South Africa may now have a reputation as Africa’s most gay-friendly destination which attracts thousands of LGBT tourists annually, but it wasn’t always that way. When it was a British Colony as part of the British Empire they had the english sense of morality and Christianity imposed upon them. This meant mirroring England’s … Continue reading
Thanks to Nelson Mandela, South Africa has one of the best constitutions and legal rights frameworks for queer people globally. A nation’s queer human rights usually affects the tone of the film-making in that country. For example, queer film-making out of Muslim countries often contains far more angst-ridden themes than films from more … Continue reading
At one point in this movie the lead character, Nicholas Van der Swar (Kai Luke Brummer) is warned “Try to stay invisible” but there is nowhere to hide as director Oliver Hermanus slowly and powerfully strips individuality and intimacy away from him. Conscripted at sixteen into the white supremacist army defending the apartheid of … Continue reading
The fact that ‘moffie’ is the South African equivalent of ‘faggot’ sets the tone for one of the most harrowing coming-of-age films we have ever seen. It is set in South Africa in 1981 in the midst of apartheid where the white minority still dominate and persecute the ‘colored’ population. They however are not … Continue reading
This dark and rather dismal coming of age tale is set South Africa’s central Free State province inhabited by Afrikaners made up of isolated farms where time seems to have stopped still. In fact it really is difficult to work out if this a period piece or not, and it is only the eventual … Continue reading