Moffie

It’s 1979 and South Africa’s government’s main concern is keeping Southern Africa free of communism, to protect the Afrikaner people, Christianity, and the free world. To do this, they need bodies, and seventeen-year-old Nicholas van der Swart is conscripted into the South African Defence Force and finds himself in the dark heart of a regime that demands absolute conformity, brute masculinity, racism, and bigotry. Set against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa, “MOFFIE” traces Nicholas’s struggle against societal expectations and his internal battle in discovering his own identity amidst the violence of South Africa’s border war, which took place between 1966 – 1989. Facing the dread of being labelled a ‘moffie’ – a derogatory term for being gay – and the risk of being outed and the ever-present fear of exposure, “MOFFIE” is an exploration of toxic masculinity and trauma, highlighting how, 30 years into South Africa’s democracy, the emotional wounds inflicted during those turbulent times persist, offering a reflection on the lingering scars of the past and their influence on the present and future.