James  is a  successful  comedy writer.   There  is only one  small problem, he  lives  in  Johannesburg and has completely and utterly lost his sense of humour.  Crime, politics, pessimism and feather duster salesmen have invaded every cell of his body causing him  to  lose  the very spark of humour which enables him  to earn his living. 
He has other problems  too - his girlfriend has  left him for  the most boring man  in the world; his entire  family has emigrated; he has thrown his producer's computer out the window and developed a serious drug problem. 
In the maddest of madcap journey James must travel through the highways and byways of South Africa from Daspoort Rehab back to Johannesburg to try and find his elusive sense of humour as well as his ability to love and laugh again.
Upon his return he finds his girlfriend has moved win with his nemesis, Carl, the most boring man in the world.  He swears that he will get her back.  Carl tells him to stop swearing and get lost.  Broke, and with nowhere to live, James starts squatting  in his parent's old house which  is up  for sale. His presence  in  the house causes endless problems with the estate agent Barbara. This also brings James in conflict with his parents in Australia who pressurize him  to  leave South Africa, almost as  if  the entire  country might explode.    James, however, wants to stay in South Africa, and wants to try and find himself in the chaos of Johannesburg. 
James desperately tries to find some work in an industry where his name is synonymous with mud. It proves almost  impossible. He  finally gets a  job writing a  rainbow nation  sitcom under  the guidance of  the  ruthless workaholic producer Thembi. It's laughs per minute that Thembi is after and James's sense of humour failure is not allowing this.  Pressure starts to pile up.  James starts developing a bizarre relationship with the sitcom characters he  is  trying  to write. They start  talking  to him and he  talks back.   Things couldn't get much worse when Martin, the friendly dope head from rehab, arrives at his front door looking for a place to stay.
Although JOZI is a screamingly funny comedy it has a very clear philosophy.  It is about finding the positive in difficult times. Allowing yourself to make connections with the people and the place you live. Being defined by the positive experiences not the negative ones. And most of all learning to laugh, laugh and laugh.   
The film reveals the beauty and uniqueness of Johannesburg, South Africa

Carl Beukes (James)
Carl is an accomplished actor, having performed on stage, television and in film.  His favourite stage works include Certified Male, Macbeth and Amadeus. Carl's television roles include being the lead in SABC 2 drama
series, The Res and supporting roles in 25 Degrees South and Soul City. Carl is best known for his role in Isidingo.
Among the films he has starred in are Pure Blood, Glory, Glory and Highjack Stories.

Nick Boraine (Carl)
Nick Boraine is best known for his role as Dr. Johan Bester in the SABC2 medical drama series Hillside. He is an award winning actor who has performed in film, on television and the theatre.
He played the lead roles in the films The Promised Land and Dead End and had supporting roles in The Devils Whore,  The  Breed,  In My Country,  Triangle,  The  African  Story,  Slash,  Bezerker,  The Queens Messenger, Blast Off, I Dreamed of Africa and Sweepers.  He was also featured in Glory Glory and Inside.  On television, he appeared in Wild at Heart 2, Hillside , T.R.C., King Solomon's Mines, Zero, Play , Soul City, Scout Safari, 7de Laan and Sinbad.
Nick's theatre roles include lead roles in Truth In Translation, Sic, Birdy and Popcorn, and supporting roles in Shopping & F***ing, Mojo and Metamorphosis.  He won FNB Vita Awards for Best Actor in Birdy and Popcorn, Best Performance by Actor in Supporting Role for Shopping and F***ing.

Lindi Matshikiza (Brenda)
Lindi Matshikiza is a talented actress  who has made a successful progression from stage to film.  Her acting career began  in 2003 when she played  the  female  lead  in  the stage play, Thuthula:   Heart of  the Labyrinth which premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
This  was  followed  in  2004  by  The  Unspeakable  Story  and  A Great  Year  which  she  co-directed  with  Dani Marais.   She  then  participated  in AREPP:  Theatre  For  Life  as  an  actor  and  facilitator  and  also  played  the female lead in Second Slip, followed by a role in Mama Thembu's Wedding.
She  also  performed  the  lead  role  in  Mixed  Metaphors  which  was  initially  staged  at  the  State  Theatre  in Tshwane  and which  subsequently  toured  the  country with  runs  at Artscape, Cape  Town;  the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown;  SASOL Gauteng  Schools  Festival,  Tshwane; Cape  Town  International Convention Centre and the Commonwealth Ministers' Conference.
In 2007 she was the female lead in Bafana Republic, a one woman show directed by Lara Bye which toured all major cities in South Africa.  She made her film debut as the female lead in Blink which was a film produced as part of the AFDA Masters Course in Film.

Lionel Newton (Martin)
Lionel Newton studied at Cape Town University from 1986 to 1988. He has acted in over thirty plays for which he has won several awards. He has also acted in several movies including Les Blair's feature for Channel 4, Jump The Gun for which he won the All African M-Net Award for Best Actor.
His collaboration with Andrew Buckland has seen  the successful, The Well Being   which was also   staged  in London with a sell-out season. Amongst Lionel's favourite plays are Score Me The Ages under the direction of the  late Barney Simon and Anatomie Titus The Fall Of Rome under  the direction of Marthinus Basson.   He also played the part of Estragon in Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot for which he won a Vita award for Best actor.
On  television,  Lionel  played  the  notorious  serial  killer  in  Isidingo  and  was  the  lead  in  the  comedy  series, Sorted;  the mini  series, Crossing  the Line and Barney Barnato.     He also had  support  roles  in  the BBC TV films, To  the Ends of  the Earth and Coup and  in  the SABC's Soul Buddies, Life Begins at Forty,   A Familiar Stranger and You be the Judge as well as the television film, Zabor the Second.
Lionel's  film work  includes  lead  roles  in  Jump  the Gun, Gums & Noses,  Leon Schuster's Mama  Jack  and Triomf , and supporting roles in Forgiveness, Stander, An African Dream, Rage to Kill and The Good Fascist.

Jena Dover (Allison)
Jena Dover  trained as an actress at  the Lee Strasberg Theatre  Institute  in New York and The Groundlings School of Improvisation in Los Angeles.
She  is a  stage,  television and  film actress and model who  first  came  to prominence  in  the  film Number  10 directed by Darrell Roodt.  She also acted in the films, Hooded Angels and Pets which were directed by David Lister.
On television, she has appeared in the etv series, Scandal, SABC's Hard Copy 3 and One Way.
She has performed in the theatre productions of Proof, Seascape and Hamlet for the Marilyn Monroe Theatre in New York and in The Elevator Story for Theatre Studio Inc. also in New York.

CRAIG FREIMOND (WRITER-DIRECTOR)
Craig  completed  his Drama  degree  at Wits University  in  1988. Since  then  he  has worked  as  a writer  and director in theatre, television and film. His theatre works include Edmond, The Chalky White Show, The Great Gatsby, Jump, Pygmalion, Macbeth, Sweet Phoebe, Talk Radio, Gums & Noses and The King of Laughter.
His TV credits include Not Quite Friday Night, Soul Buddyz, Scoop Schoombie, Gazlam and Sorted. 
In 2004 Craig wrote and directed his first feature film Gums & Noses which was adapted from his play of the same name. Gums & Noses was produced by T.O.M. pictures and as a result of the very successful working relationship Craig enjoyed with  the  team at T.O.M. Pictures, he  joined  the company  in 2005. Gums & Noses won the Apollo Film Festival Award for Best Feature in 2004. 
His play The King of Laughter won  three Naledi Awards  in 2004,  including Best New Play, Best Director and Best  Supporting  Actor.  His most  recent  television  work  was  co-creating  and  directing  two  seasons  of  the improvised comedy series Sorted. 
Craig's most recent film is Jozi which is produced by T.O.M. Pictures and Videovision Entertainment.

ROBBIE THORPE (Story)
Robbie has worked  in  film and  television for over 20 years,  initially as an editor and  later as both a producer and a director. After studying Film Production at  the Pretoria Technikon, he  lived and worked as an editor  in London  for  four years.
After  returning  in 1990 he worked mostly on  international  feature  films and  local and international documentaries where he quickly gained a  reputation as one of  the  finest editors  in  the country.
Looking  for  new  challenges  Robbie  has  gone  on  to  become  a  Producer  working  in  television,  film  and commercials. 
For  T.O.M.  Robbie  has  produced  the  multi  award  winning  feature  film  Gums  &  Noses  and  is  currently developing  'In  the Shadow of a Saint' a South Africa/Canada co-production starring Djimon Hounsou  (Blood Diamond). Recent television includes the comedy series Sorted and the drama series A Place Called Home.

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKING

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