#OnTheBigScreen: A pastor, a wizard, and replicas

Dominee Tienie (Pastor Tienie)

After 16 years as the pastor of the mother church, Tienie Benade (Frank Opperman) is confronted with a steep decline in the number of churchgoers and a modern society that is rapidly changing. Do clergymen, or even the church, still have a role to play in this world? He is trying his best to adapt and make sense of the changes, but, in the process, he is alienating his wife and children. After an incident with a dying vagrant, Tienie finds himself at a crossroads. Would he be able to regain his self-confidence and win back the love of his family and would he be brave enough to provide guidance to his congregation in this new era?

Q& A with Dominee Tienie director Sallas De Jager

Daniel Dercksen  24 Jan 2019

Based on the play by Dana Snyman. Written and directed by Sallas de Jager.

3 Days To Go

No family is perfect in 3 Days To Go. When their father passes away, four grown siblings gather with their collection of husbands, wives, children, and grandchildren. Together this crazy family needs to survive each other, for three days under one roof, before they spread their father’s ashes and part ways again. As the siblings re-examine their shared history and their tattered relationships, they learn how miserable they have become in their lives and how they can no longer blame someone else for their decisions.

This typical, and often very emotional scenario is also the inspiration behind award-winning producer Bianca Isaac’s directorial debut, which puts family relationships in the spotlight!

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Matwetwe (Wizard)

This coming-of-age adventure follows Lefa and Papi, best friends and recent high school graduates, on the hustle of their young lives. Over the course of one action-packed New Year’s Eve in the iconic township of Atteridgeville, the boys try to score a huge deal, dodge a kingpin gangster and his violent minions, get the girl and ultimately save their lives in this hilarious and sometimes very serious escapade.

Written and directed by Kagiso Lediga.

On The Basis Of Sex

Director Mimi Leder says she had a visceral response upon reading the script for On The Basis Of Sex, inspired by a true story and written by Daniel Stiepleman, who is also Justice Ginsburg’s real-life nephew and an executive producer on the film.

It tells the true story of a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) – then a struggling attorney and new mother – who faces adversity and numerous obstacles in her fight for equal rights throughout her career. When Ruth takes on a groundbreaking tax case with her husband, attorney Martin Ginsburg (Armie Hammer), she knows it could change the direction of her career and the way the courts view gender discrimination. The film also chronicles the storybook-like romance between Ruth and Marty, a partnership that succeeded both personally and professionally.

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If Beale Street Could Talk

Set in early 1970s Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk is a timeless and moving love story of both a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers (screen newcomer KiKi Layne). A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect, and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny (Stephan James).

Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Through the unique intimacy and power of cinema, If Beale Street Could Talk honours the author’s prescient words and imagery, charting the emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the filmmaker poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on James Baldwin‘s novel.

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Replicas

After a car accident kills his loving family, a daring neuroscientist will stop at nothing to bring them back, even if it means pitting himself against a government-controlled laboratory, a police task force, and the physical laws of science themselves.

The much-anticipated sci-fi thriller Replicas was written by Chad St. John and directed by talented Jeffrey Nachmanoff. It stars Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve, Thomas Middleditch, and John Ortiz.

South African production designer Johnny Breedt is one of the creative minds that brought the Replicas to life in Puerto Rico.

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For more on the latest film releases go to writingstudio.co.za/lets-go-to-the-movies/