Durban–Sophiatown, 1958.
On the outskirts of Johannesburg, as the apartheid police prepare to demolish the community at the heart of black South African cultural and intellectual life, a notorious gang leader is determined to make a last stand.
Resisting the forced evictions that will transport the residents of Sophiatown to a desolate township miles away, he’s prepared to fight to the death.
But when a sultry torch singer enters his violent world, he suddenly finds something worth living for.In “Back of the Moon,” Academy Award-nominated director Angus Gibson draws on film noir influences to evoke the free-wheeling, violent, cosmopolitan spirit of mid-century Sophiatown—a place that still exerts a powerful hold on the black South African conscience.
Starring Richard Lukunku (“Badman”) and Moneoa Moshesh (“Eve”), the film had its world premiere at the Durban Intl.
Film Festival.Gibson is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker who has co-created, produced or directed multiple award-winning TV dramas.
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