Daniel Dercksen shares a few thoughts with writer-director Craig Freimond.

Tell me about JOZI. How did it happen?
Anant (Singh) was a fan of Gums & Noses and even tried to have it released in the cinema, which was declined by M net. We were approached by Videovision to develop a new film. We had two ideas one was about a guy who had destroyed his life through a drug binge and landed up in a hard core Christian rehab and had to rebuild his life and the other was about a comedy writer who has lost his sense of humour and so Jozi was born. We developed the script and made the film with them as partners, a very exciting partnership.   

You seem to have a good working relationship with Robbie Thorpe, as a writer and director with him as producer and bouncing off ideas?
Yes, robbie produced Gums & Noses and we have been working together ever since. We then did two series of sorted together with Lionel Newton, This was really a way to develop some of our ideas around comedy. And Jozi was the first film we developed from scratch together. We have a wonderful working relationship, it's not that easy to find partnerships that can push you further and make you better. Robbie is a very clever guy and helps me a lot in the lonely process of writing. We conceptualize story together then I write, we meet we dissect we talk and I write more. So far it's a good combination.

Was JOZI a difficult film to get off the ground?
It wasn't because as I say it was developed by Videovision and they always liked the script and believed in the film. even after we shot they always were very supportive and positive so this was quite a rare experience in that way.

It must be great to see your brainchild materialise and giving so much joy to audiences throughout South Africa?
It's very hard to explain the joy of seeing something that existed only one a page becoming a reality. I found it quite emotional a few times on the shoot of Jozi. It's very rewarding and when you hear audiences laughing and or feeling with you it's doubly rewarding.

You stand comfortably in TV, film and theatre: do you have any preference and why?
I don't really. It really depends on what medium suits the style and format and story you are trying to tell. Each medium has their own challenges. I have kind of lost interest in some aspects of our TV industry because there seems to be a lack of vision in some quarters. But I write on the the ETV rhythm city and I find that very rewarding because it reaches it is so immediate and reaches such a large audience. I am now directing a play called Death of a Colonialist at the Market theatre. It feels great to be in a rehearsal room again working in a different way. Film and TV tend to be very rushed. I like moving between the mediums because I think you lean different things from different mediums..

Have you always wanted to be a filmmaker? Where did it start for you, that moment that you knew you were going to be in show business?
I was in a play when I was in matric, it was a comedy. I acted and everybody laughed and that was it, I was hooked. Up until that moment it had never occurred to me. I studied at wits and trained as an actor and a director and theater was my first love but I guess film was a long term objective. I still struggle to see myself as a filmmaker. Filmmakers always seem to be earnest chaps with big beards.

Are you more comfortable as a writer or director?
I am more comfortable writing, mostly because I am able to access cappuccino throughout the day. Seriously though the pressure of directing film is quite extreme. Writing like editing feels more creative and contained. Shooting feels like going to the river to fetch the clay, then you can have fun and make the sculpture. 

There seems to be an identity crisis in SA to what makes a proudly South African film. Your views on this?
We are such a diverse population that everyone seems to have different ideas on everything. and in away part of being proudly South African  means embracing very different points of view. We have not always been very good at that in the past. For me, it's about believing in ourselves, stop hating ourselves and embracing positivity as opposed to negativity. This country has unimaginable power if we can harness it.

You have incorporated a sitcom info JOZI, with some hilarious memory flashes as well as James interacting with the characters from the sitcom: is this your satirical view of the TV Industry, or are you trying to show us how television influences and reflects our society?
In some ways it is a comment on a certain type of heap and nasty TV comedy, in other ways it is about the silliness of importing mediums that work in other countries like sitcoms and thinking they will just work here, and so often they don't but the laugh track continues. In other ways its about a certain type of comedy that ignores the realities of our country.

You started your career studying acting, then writing and directing…do you think it helps to be grounded in acting as a writer-director?
Absolutely. Every director should study acting and understand the terror and vulnerability of being an actor i think it would make people better directors.  I also worked as a theatre director where the main focus is on actors and I have never changed my ideas on that. A lot of film directors come from technical backgrounds and don't really understand actors.

Where did the characters in JOZI come from? Are they completely fictional or people you know?
A bit of both. There is always a lot of Robbie and myself in our characters obviously in this case in the main characters of James. But a lot of the other characters are based on people we know or a combination of different people rolled into one character. It's always a good starting point for character because its real and it helps to avoid stereotypes. You have a great cast that brings these characters to life.

How important is casting the right actor for you as a director or do you write the characters with certain actors in mind?
Casting is everything. Mostly I didn't have any ideas, except maybe for Lionel as Martin, which was pretty much there from the start. If you cast wrong everything can go pear shaped. If you cast right half your job is done. casting is a real skill but then so is bringing everyone onto the same page.

What do you hope local audiences will get from watching JOZI?
Have a great laugh imbibe the great talent in our country from actors to all the cool bands on the soundtrack and walk out feeling smiling and feeling a little bit better about where they live.

JOZI is a film about addiction… do you find that it is a recurring theme in your work?
I don't think its a film about addiction. I think its a film about losing and finding your sense of humour and about being Ok with who you are and where you are. The addiction aspect in this film is entirely coincidental. It's not a major preoccupation in my life, although I do think that just about everybody is addicted to something, even if its Pilates.

The city of Johannesburg becomes a beautiful and vivid character in JOZI, was this intentional?
Ja, we completely wanted it to be a love story about this crazy city, to allow ourselves to actually say, this is a pretty cool place and we love it. I would have liked to feature even more interesting visuals of the city.

JOZI is also a film about identity, a journey towards finding your roots and where you belong in the scheme of things. Was this your aim?
Ja, I think a lot of people struggle with that in this country. It's part of creating a better future, we need to be OK with who and where we are, and be proud of it. Enough with the negativity already. We can be great but we have to believe that we can. If we keep saying how crap we are that will become what we create.

Future plans. Will there be a JOZI 2, or will you be exploring the cities of Cape Town and Durban?
Interesting idea, I like it but I would have to be able to get under the skin of those places and that takes time.

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