The title is a homophobic slur used in South Africa.
Like his protagonist, director Oliver Hermanus is gay. One of the flashbacks in the film, set at a swimming pool, is drawn from his own experience.
As a director of color, Oliver Hermanus had initial reservations about taking on a subject that was largely based on a white male experience.
Opened in South African cinemas on 13 March 2020 to great critical acclaim. However, two weeks later, all the country's cinemas were closed due to the Covid lockdown.
The song that Nicholas and Sachs sing together is Sugar Man, by the American musician Rodriguez. A folk rock singer whose career had long since stalled in America, Rodriguez was surprised to discover that he was a smash hit in apartheid-era South Africa, and for years afterwards. The effort by two Cape Town music fans to find him and bring him to South Africa to perform is detailed in the documentary Searching for Sugar Man (2012).