Moffie becomes 4th South African film invited to Venice International Film Fest

Moffie was made in association with Hermanus’ Cape Town-based Penzance Films with the support of the South African department of trade and industry.

© Jamie D Ramsay

Local production

Hermanus’ previous film The Endless River (2015) was the first South African film to compete for the Golden Lion. Moffie will premiere in the Orizzonti (Horizons) Competition. Hermanus’ filmSkoonheid (Beauty) won the Queer Palm at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and his first film Shirley Adams was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2009.

Moffie is produced by Fugard Theatre founder South African-born Eric Abraham – who produced the Academy award-winning films Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida (2014) and Jan Sverak’s Kolya (1996) – and Jack Sidey of Portobello Productions. It is based on the memoir, Moffie, by André-Carl van der Merwe and tells the story of a conscript who embarks on his military service in 1981 South Africa.

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Our cinematographer, @jamiedramsaycinematography, and costume designer @rezalevy used the bootcamp to test the film’s design and colour palette #moffiefilm

A post shared by MOFFIE (@moffiefilm) on Jul 17, 2019 at 6:29am PDT

In 2018, the producers of the film along with casting director Jaci Cheiman hosted a nationwide casting call for the film’s lead and the other conscripts. Kai Luke Brummer attended no less than eight individual castings before bagging the leading role of Nicholas.

Two of the nearly 2,000 hopefuls who responded to a Facebook and press campaign and consequently attended the casting sessions in Johannesburg. Matthew Vey and Rikus Terblanche landed other principal parts in the film. They are both still in high school.

Returning to Venice

The creative team behind Moffie are Hermanus regulars – working on what is their third collaboration with the director. The team includes Safta-winning production designer Franz Lewis, renowned costume-designer Reza Levy and director of photography Jamie D Ramsay.

The original score is composed by Braam du Toit and the film is co-produced by another Hermanus collaborator, Thérèsa Ryan-Van Graan. The film was shot last summer in various Western Cape locations.

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MOFFIE is the third film that director @oliverforevermore and director of photography @jamiedramsaycinematography have made together. Their partnership spans over a decade to when they were both still puppies. #moffiefilm.

A post shared by MOFFIE (@moffiefilm) on Jul 22, 2019 at 7:31am PDT

The festival takes place from 28 August to 7 September 2019 on the Lido in Venice and forms part of the Venice Biennale.

Moffie will be released in South Africa later this year.