Culture

SpotlightClothing the Silence: Widows' Attires Around the World

Bélinda Ibrahim 03/08 18:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

The death of a husband never left women untouched in terms of dress. From Victorian black crepe to Hindu white saris, a widow’s clothing is a signal. It embodies absence. It draws a line between before and after. It imposes on the female body a way of existing in the world, between pain, modesty and sometimes submission. And while mourning is ...

Word of the weekMicro-influencer: Trust Over Fame

Sana Richa Choucair 03/08 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

In the ever-evolving landscape of social media, a new type of influencer has emerged: not the celebrity with millions of followers, but the relatable figure with a smaller, more engaged audience: the “micro-influencer.” The rise of this term says a lot about how influence is being redefined in the digital age. What Does “Micro-influencer” ...

Indian Filmmakers Rush to Cash In on Cross-Border Conflict

This is Beirut 03/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cinema India FIlms Pakistan Culture Art

Indian filmmakers are locking up the rights to movie titles that can profit from the patriotism fanned by a four-day conflict with Pakistan, which killed more than 70 people. The nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone, and air strikes in May, after India blamed Pakistan for an armed attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The ...

Taylor Swift’s Madame Tussauds Wax Glamour Dazzles in Zuhair Murad

This is Beirut 02/08 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Fashion Luxury Zuhair Murad Music Taylor Swift Culture

Madame Tussauds celebrates Taylor Swift’s iconic career with its most ambitious project to date: a historic simultaneous launch of 13 wax figures, across four continents, each capturing a unique era. In New York, the Midnights era figure takes center stage, all dressed up in a custom Zuhair Murad design recreated with couture precision. The wax ...

Archaeological Surprise: 1,000-Year-Old Mummy Discovered in Peru’s Capital

This is Beirut 02/08 11:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Archaeology Discovery Mummy History Peru Culture

A crew of workers accidentally discovered a mummy more than 1,000 years old while installing gas pipes in Peru's capital Lima, their employer and archaeologists said Thursday. The mummy was found last week in a tomb underneath a street north of Lima, said archaeologist Jesus Bahamonde. The mummy was covered in a shroud in a seated position, arms ...

SpotlightAugust 4: Families Revive Memory With Olive Trees

Bélinda Ibrahim 01/08 18:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

August 4 Port of Beirut Beirut Blast Lebanon Olive Trees Lebanon

When justice falters, memory remains. A memory planted with bare hands into a soil still shaken by anger and silence. For five years, families of August 4, 2020 explosion victims have waited in vain, expecting answers, accountability, and convictions. But waiting led nowhere. So, some have stopped waiting. Not out of vengeance, but to stand their ...

Liam Neeson, a Dim-Witted Cop in a Noir Parody

This is Beirut 01/08 16:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Cinema Film Liam Neeson Pamela Anderson Culture Art

Liam Neeson, in full-on comedy mode: the actor known for Schindler’s List, his reinvention as a violent avenger in Taken, and as a Jedi Master in The Phantom Menace, now plays a clueless, blundering cop in The Naked Gun: Save the World?, opening Wednesday in France. In this send-up of film noir, the Northern Irish star joins Pamela Anderson to ...

Steven Knight to Write Next James Bond Film with Villeneuve

This is Beirut 01/08 16:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Cinema James Bond 007 Movie Culture Art

Steven Knight, the creator of gritty TV crime series Peaky Blinders, will write the highly anticipated next James Bond movie, studio Amazon MGM announced Thursday. Knight will work alongside previously announced director Denis Villeneuve, best known for Dune, to bring the world's most famous fictional spy back to the big screen after a prolonged ...

Jenna Ortega Returns in Darker, Bolder 'Wednesday' Season Two

This is Beirut 01/08 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Series Netflix Tim Burton Culture Art Cinema

Jenna Ortega returns to screens next week for a second series of Wednesday, Netflix's spin-off of The Addams Family that launched her career and revived Gothic fashion. The first installment of the quirky series in 2022 became Netflix's second most-watched show after Squid Game, clocking up 252 million views. Ortega's deadpan and witty portrayal ...

Bob Wilson, Master of Light and Stage, Passed Away at 83

This is Beirut 01/08 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Theater Heritage Bob Wilson Director Culture Art

It was a silent seven-hour production that first made France fall in love with Bob Wilson. Deafman Glance, born from a moment of trauma—Wilson witnessing a young deaf boy being beaten by a police officer—would become a landmark of modern theater. Wilson later adopted the boy. When the show premiered at the Nancy Festival in 1971, poet Louis ...

Lynette Howell Taylor to Lead Oscars as Academy President

This is Beirut 01/08 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Oscars Film Cinema Culture Art Lynette Howell Taylor

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences elected A Star is Born film producer Lynette Howell Taylor as its new president, the group behind the Oscars said Thursday. Howell Taylor, who is British and also produced Blue Valentine and The Accountant, becomes the fifth woman chosen to run Hollywood's most elite group of filmmakers. Academy ...

Honkytonk Kenya: Country Music’s Unlikely African Capital

This is Beirut 01/08 11:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Kenya Country Music Art Festival Culture Music

The party is in Kenya, but the vibe is distinctly Americana: a sea of cowboy hats and boots with a soundtrack of whisky-soaked tales about heartbreak and good ol' boys. Kenya has become the unlikely home of a growing country music scene, possibly the biggest in Africa, as testified by the thousands line-dancing in a field in the capital Nairobi at ...