#OnTheBigScreen: No Time To Die and Don't Breathe 2; Jozi Film Festival returns

The Jozi Film Festival
The Jozi Film Festival (JFF) - aka “the little film festival that could” - is back from 1 to 10 October 2021, catering for those who love experiencing the magic of the cinema in person as well as those who prefer streaming quality films from the comfort of their homes.

This year’s hybrid film festival will see selected films and documentaries being screened on site at The Bioscope Independent Cinema. It will also offer a full menu of films to stream for free via a specially created online platform as well as an on-demand channel.

Read more here.

No Time To Die

The 25th Bond movie is an intense, personal story.

Bond (Daniel Craig) has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter (Madeleine Swann) from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Daniel Craig is back for his fifth and final outing, bringing to a close a journey that has introduced the world to a new, modern Bond. For all his excellence in certain fields, Craig’s Bond is not infallible. He is not the hero of myth and legend, he has much to learn. Bond is a multifaceted hero, a man whose success is tempered by occasional failures. He is a mixture of the light and the dark; if he delivers a pithy one-liner, it is often shrouded in menace.

To tell this story, the filmmakers turned to visionary filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga (Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre, True Detective).

With the story of No Time To Die taking shape under the guidance of director Cary Joji Fukunaga and of long-time Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the producers and Daniel Craig also invited contributions from writer and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve), who brought her unique take on character and story, while also maintaining what Fellow producer Barbara Broccoli describes as Bond’s “essential Britishness”.

Read more here.

Biz Readers can win a No Time To Die pen and a Phone Wallet. Enter Competition here

Don’t Breathe 2

In Don’t Breathe, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) was underestimated by everyone because of his blindness but ultimately revealed an unflinching will to survive and get what he wants… and a monstrous, evil side of his personality… He’s a man who’ll let nothing - no person or conscience - stand in his way. Now, in Don’t Breathe 2, eight years have passed and Nordstrom lives with 11-year-old Phoenix. He has recreated the family stolen from him by a drunk driver and found the twisted justice he’s always felt was his due.

When intruders once again come to his home, this time focused on Phoenix, Norman will reveal for a second time what’s hidden inside him, in new and unexpected ways.

For Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez, who directed Don’t Breathe which he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues who now sits in the director’s seat for Don’t Breathe 2, the sequel came out of a place of trying to surprise themselves and the audience.

“We didn’t want to do a sequel where it was ‘the same again, bigger. We are telling a completely different story that poses the same questions – how does the audience feel about this character and what he’s doing. Like any good thriller, it’s a riddle – every scene is a clue, and you have to put it together,” says Alvarez.

Read more here.

Read more about the latest and upcoming film releases, including some exciting film festivals here.