Writer director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humour and pathos to his latest film, JOJO RABBIT, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis as JoJo) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.

Jojo Rabbit offers a sharply funny, yet profoundly stirring, child’s-eye view of a society gone mad with intolerance.  The screenplay is based upon the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens and also stars Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, with Sam Rockwell.

To date, Jojo Rabbit has been nominated for 13 prestigious awards including Golden Globes ‘Best Motion Picture’ and ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Roman Griffin Davis’, and Critics Choice Awards nominations for ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Supporting Actress for Scarlett Johansson’, ‘Best Young Actor/Actress for Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Archie Yates’, ‘Best Adapted Screenplay for Taika Waititi’ and ‘Best Comedy’. This week saw the film land six Oscar nominations for ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Supporting Actress’, ‘Costume Design’, ‘Film Editing’, ‘Adapted Screenplay’ and ‘Production Design’.

“I hope the humour in Jojo Rabbit helps engage a new generation; it’s important to keep finding new and inventive ways of telling the horrific story of World War II again and again for new generations, so that our children can listen, learn, and move forward, unified into the future. Here’s to putting an end to ignorance and replacing it with love,” comments writer director Taika Waititi.

“What I love about Rosie is that she’s unabashedly imaginative, poetic and romantic—and at the same time, she’s this very grounding force for Jojo. She’s fighting for the Resistance and is really a very modern woman,” Johansson describes.  “She’s such a bright light in this very dark time.  It’s very rare for me to read something and just say ‘I have to do this’ but I really felt that way when I read this script.”

McKenzie sees Elsa as mostly itching for freedom.  “What I really love is that she doesn’t want pity, she just wants to be able to live her life without all this happening,” McKenzie says.  “Of course, I’ve never had to hide in a life-or-death situation like she does, but I related to her as a teenage girl who before this happened was into boys and gossiping with her friends and doing things normal kids do and dream about.  She didn’t change from that person when she went into hiding.”

Jojo Rabbit releases throughout the UAE on the 30^th January, the official trailer can be viewed here