This is Beirut - Culture

'Fables Immersives': La Fontaine Like You’ve Never Seen Him Before

Bélinda Ibrahim, 30/08 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

La Fontaine Exhibition Immersive Paris Culture

As immersive exhibitions continue to captivate ever-growing audiences, Cités Immersives is set to make a major splash this cultural season. Following its success in Rouen with Viking, the company presents a new experience in a 1,000-square-meter venue just steps from the Champs-Élysées, dedicated to the world of Jean de La Fontaine. Living ...

The Nanjing Massacre Through Film: 'Dead to Rights' and China’s Lingering Trauma

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

Film China Japan Massacre History Culture

The film Dead to Rights, which recounts the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38, takes viewers through the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in China. Released just before the 80th anniversary of China's victory over Japan, the film has become a powerful focal point of national remembrance, attracting large crowds to its filming set, now a tourist ...

Summer 2025: Lebanon Reclaims Its Suitcases… and Its Traffic Jams

Christiane Tager, 30/08 10:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

culture tourism Beirut international airport

Every summer in Lebanon carries a hint of uncertainty: a sunny getaway shadowed by geopolitical clouds. In 2025, the gamble partly paid off. While not quite reaching the golden era of 2018–2019, the season brought hope to a sector long on edge. Between July and August, Beirut welcomed more than 100 daily flights, with passenger numbers ranging ...

Park Chan-Wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ Unveiled at Venice: A Dark Look at Capitalism”

This is Beirut, 29/08 20:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Venice Festival Park Chan-wook South Korea Italy Culture

It took 20 years for South Korean director Park Chan-wook to return to the Venice Film Festival and the same length of time for the veteran cineaste to make his latest film. The director of Old Boy, which thrust him into the international spotlight in 2004 after winning the Grand Prix at Cannes, will premiere his latest feature, No Other Choice ...

Julia Roberts Shakes Up Venice with Campus Drama After the Hunt

This is Beirut, 29/08 17:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Film Festival Venice Julia Roberts US Italy Culture

Julia Roberts hopes to "stir it all up" for viewers of her new film about a university professor grappling with fraught US campus politics, as the Hollywood star made her debut at the Venice Film Festival on Friday. The Pretty Woman star was attending the city's festival for the first time in her career for After the Hunt, a cancel-culture ...

Jon Batiste’s "Big Money": A Musical Call to Climate Action

This is Beirut, 28/08 16:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Jon Batiste Climat Environment US Culture

Celebrated US musician Jon Batiste wants to use his music to fire up listeners to act against climate change, naming his new album after what he sees as the root of the problem, Big Money. The track Petrichor in particular is a call to arms for a younger generation who may have turned their backs on mainstream news and analysis about global ...

'Euphoria, Art Is in the Air': Inflatable Artworks Fill the Grand Palais with Emotion

Marie-Christine Tayah, 28/08 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Exhibition Paris Grand Palais Art Culture France

The Grand Palais is no stranger to reinvention, but this summer it’s lighter, brighter, and more buoyant than ever. The Balloon Museum, led by curator Valentino Catricalà, returns to Paris after the 2022 hit “Pop Air” with a new immersive exhibition: Euphoria, Art Is in the Air. Spanning more than 40,000 square feet, the space is ...

Van Gogh Museum Faces Closure Without Urgent State Funding to Preserve Cultural Legacy

This is Beirut, 28/08 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Van Gogh Museum Netherlands Heritage Art Culture

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam warned Wednesday that it faced closure without more state funding, saying a 104-million-euro ($120 million) renovation was vital to protect its masterpieces. The museum, which holds the world's biggest collection of the artist's work, said the project could not go ahead unless the Dutch state honored a 1962 ...

Werner Herzog Honored with Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Film Festival

This is Beirut, 28/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Venice Festival Werner Herzog Special Award Italy Culture

Globetrotting filmmaker Werner Herzog, an eclectic risk-taker whose monumental works often explore humankind's conflict with nature, was honored with a special award on Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival. The 82-year-old arthouse giant, who helped launch New German Cinema in the 1960s, received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement ahead of ...

Byblos Comes Alive with the Launch of Its First International Film Festival

This is Beirut, 27/08 20:27 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Festival Launching Jbeil Culture

The Byblos International Film Festival (BIFF) is set to kick off its inaugural edition from August 29 through August 31, 2025, bringing a new cinematic celebration to one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. The festival will take place in the atmospheric open-air setting of the Jardin des Artisans in Jbeil’ historic Old Souk, ...

Italy’s Sorrentino Embraces Doubt in Euthanasia Film at Venice

This is Beirut, 27/08 18:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Festival Film Venice Sorrentino Euthanasia Culture

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino hopes his latest film premiering Wednesday in Venice will bring attention to the controversial topic of euthanasia, while encouraging those in power to reject the need for certainty and embrace doubt. La Grazia, about an Italian president grappling with indecision over whether to sign a euthanasia bill into law, ...

Smiling Viking Figurine Discovered After Centuries in Denmark

This is Beirut, 27/08 16:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Museum Danemark Culture Art Archeology Heritage

Denmark's National Museum unveiled Wednesday what it described as the first "portrait" of a Viking: a miniature 10th-century figurine depicting a man with an imperial moustache, braided beard and neatly groomed hairstyle. Carved out of ivory walrus tusk, the partially damaged representation of a head and torso measures just three centimeters (1.2 ...

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