Back of The Moon plays out in a single night in 1958. It’s a tale of gangsters fighting for every advantage – for every drop of power and dignity in the midst of squalor – while not quite hidden in the background the vicious policies of the apartheid state draw ever closer. Badman, leader of a powerful and ruthless gang, lives life on his own terms in the crazy, cosmopolitan, half-demolished ghetto that is Sophiatown. Tomorrow, legions of police will force the residents of Gerty Street out of their homes and truck them to a desolate township miles from the city.

The immensely talented Eve Msomi, a torch-singer on the brink of an international career, is giving her last concert in the local hall – The Back Of The Moon – before she leaves for London. Eve and Badman find each other in what can only be a tragic and short-lived embrace. Badman has decided that he will fight to the death for his home. And on the night of this beautiful and authentic encounter, Badman’s gang senses his vulnerability and turns on them both. The acting is first-rate; the cinematography is superb; the music is enchanting. Back of The Moon is a triumph.

Content advisory: contains some scenes with violence and sexual content. May contain scenes of smoking, drugs and course language 

Thanks to our community partner, Vancouver Foreign Film Society.