#OnTheBigScreen: Women in turmoil, prehistoric shark and Prince Charming

Stroomop

Award-winning actor, screenwriter, producer and television presenter Ivan Botha’s long-awaited directorial debut Stroomop tells the story of five women being tossed about by life’s rough waters and drowning in their own lives.

Together they not only have to fight tears, fears and pain, but they must also fight for survival in this exciting white river rafting adventure on the Orange River. The film offers hilarious laugh-out-loud moments that make you realise that sometimes you simply have to accept your circumstances and make the most of it. In fact, sometimes you will have to swim against the current to discover that you are more than enough, and that you possess everything you need to overcome what the river of life may float your way.

Donnalee Roberts plays Lana, a surgeon with a tragic past. Simoné Nortmann is Vivian, a data analyst living a lie. Adrie, played by Chanelle de Jager, has tons of potential, but she has lost herself somewhere between marriage and motherhood. Ilse Klink plays Diona, a strong-willed family lawyer, who has spent years helping other families, but has neglected her own in the process. Armand Aucamp, famous for his roles in Ballade vir ’n Enkeling, Die Boekklub 1 and 2 and Knapsekêrels stars as the river guide, Guy.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society

Based on the internationally bestselling novel of the same name, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society tells the story of Juliet Ashton (Lily James), a free-spirited, successful writer living in post-war London.

Despite the success of her recent novel and support from her dear friend and publisher Sidney (Matthew Goode), she struggles to find inspiration for her writing after the harsh experiences of the war. Poised to accept a proposal from Mark Reynolds (Glen Powell), a dashing American GI, she receives an unexpected letter from a Guernsey farmer named Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman).

Juliet impulsively leaves for Guernsey, where she hopes to write about the curiously named book club that Dawsey has written to her about, formed by his fellow islanders under the German occupation in WW2. Juliet is charmed by the island and inspired by the members shared love of literature. As a lifelong bond forms between this unlikely group of friends, Juliet soon realises that the society are hiding a heartbreaking secret, which they are afraid she may bring to the surface.

As Juliet and Dawsey become close, she begins to unravel what happened during the difficult years under the occupation and starts to understand why they are so afraid to tell her their story.

Her fate now intertwined with the society, Juliet must decide how to help her new friends and follow her heart, knowing that her life may change in ways she had never expected.

The Meg

A 75-foot-long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon seeks revenge in the science fiction action thriller The Meg, an exhilarating adventure that director Jon Turteltaub says “takes you into a world you have imagined but have never seen. And that is exactly what’s fun and exciting about movies”.

Global action star Jason Statham, who leads an international cast in the sci-fi thriller, adds, “I think this is the ultimate popcorn film. It gives you what people go to the cinema for: entertainment, suspense, action, and even a few laughs—all of the things audiences want from a big moviegoing experience.”

A deep-sea submersible — part of an international undersea observation programme — has been attacked by a massive creature and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean… with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, former deep-sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is drawn out of self-imposed exile by a visionary Chinese oceanographer, Dr Zhang (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter, Suyin (Li Bingbing), who thinks she can rescue the crew on her own. But it will take their combined efforts to save the crew, and the ocean itself,from this seemingly unstoppable threat—a prehistoric 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. Thought to be extinct, the Meg turns out to be very much alive… and on the hunt.

Superfly

Superfly — the film that helped define a genre in its characters, look, sound, and feel — is reimagined with Director X, director of legendary music videos (Drake, Rihanna), introducing it to a new generation. The screenplay is by Alex Tse.

Cocaine kingpin Youngblood Priest realises that it’s time to get out of the game after surviving a violent attack from a crazed rival. Hoping for one last score, Priest and his partner travel to Mexico to arrange a deal. The career criminal now finds himself trying to outmanoeuvre the cartel, two corrupt police officers and all the double-crossers that threaten his path to freedom.

Charming

The animated musical comedy Charming explores the untold stories of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty who discover that they are all engaged to the same Prince Charming. After a fairy spills a large amount of charm dust on Charming, Prince Charming, led by the heroine Lenore, a woman who is incapable of love, must go on an epic journey to find his one truest of loves.

Directed and written by Ross Venokur, the film stars the voices by Demi Lovato, Wilmer Valderrama, Avril Lavigne, Ashley Tisdale, G.E.M., and Sia.

Read more about the latest film releases: www.writingstudio.co.za.