This is Beirut

Jim Morrison Bust Returns to Père Lachaise, 37 Years After Theft

This is Beirut, 19/05 16:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

France Police Jim Morrison Bust Investigation Music Culture

French police have recovered by chance the long-lost bust of American singer Jim Morrison that once adorned the grave of the iconic frontman of The Doors, 37 years after it was stolen from a Paris cemetery. The sculpture, missing since 1988, was found during a search tied to a fraud case led by the Paris public prosecutor's office, a source ...

Wes Anderson’s Starry Cast Shines Bright at Cannes

This is Beirut, 19/05 12:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Wes Anderson Cinema Cannes Film Festival Culture Cannes France

US director Wes Anderson brought his latest A-list cast led by Benicio del Toro to the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, ramping up the star power as the competition reaches the halfway mark. Anderson's typically whimsical The Phoenician Scheme, which also finds roles for Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Kate Winslet's daughter, Mia Threapleton, ...

Cannes Charity Gala to Award Kevin Spacey Lifetime Honor

This is Beirut, 19/05 11:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Cinema Kevin Spacey Culture Cannes Cannes Film Festival France

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is to be given a lifetime achievement award on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday. The Better World Fund told AFP on Sunday that the actor — who was acquitted of nine charges of alleged sex offenses in Britain last year — will be recognized "for his decades of artistic brilliance" at a charity gala in ...

Jennifer Lawrence Stuns Cannes in 'Die, My Love'

This is Beirut, 18/05 14:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Jennifer Lawrence Cannes Cannes Film Festival France Culture Cinema

Jennifer Lawrence gives a raw, unflinching performance in Die, My Love, screened Saturday night in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The American actress plays a mother losing her grip on reality, opposite British actor Robert Pattinson. The film marks the eighth Cannes appearance for Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, a festival ...

Red Carpet Micro-Dramas: Cannes’ Unspoken Language

Bélinda Ibrahim, 17/05 18:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Festival Cinema France Cannes 2025

Yet, there are the gowns. The flashbulbs. The practiced smiles and impeccable poses. But that’s only the surface. Beneath the glamour lies a quiet choreography, a visual language made of gestures and body language, whispered like a secret to those who know how to watch. Each appearance on the Croisette is a delicate balance between instinct and ...

Fatih Akin Fears Jail, Blasts Turkish Government at Cannes

This is Beirut, 17/05 17:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Fatih Akin Cannes Film Festival France Cannes Cinema Culture

Acclaimed film director Fatih Akin said he fears ending up behind bars if he returns to Turkey, with his manager there in jail accused of attempting to overthrow the government. The Turkish-German auteur — a hero to many in the country for films like Head-On, In the Fade and the Istanbul music documentary Crossing the Bridge — told AFP late ...

Culture Wars and Chaos: Joaquin Phoenix Stars in Satirical 'Eddington'

This is Beirut, 17/05 15:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Joaquin Phoenix stars in the darkly satirical Eddington, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, a biting take on America's culture wars set in a small New Mexico town. The film by fast-rising American director Ari Aster is an unsettling but often amusing Western-style thriller set amid America's toxic politics and conspiracy ...

Cannes: A Festival Rooted in Defiance of Fascism

Bélinda Ibrahim, 16/05 17:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cannes Film Festival Cinema Fascism Freedom France Cannes 2025

It was the late 1930s. The Venice Mostra, founded in 1932, was the world’s first international film festival. But by 1938, as global tensions mounted, it had turned into an ideological showcase for fascism. Under joint pressure from Hitler and Mussolini, the jury was compelled to award the festival’s top prize, the Mussolini Cup, to two ...

Tom Cruise’s Death-Defying ‘Mission’ Lights Up Cannes

This is Beirut, 15/05 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tom Cruise Cannes Cannes Film Festival France Culture Cinema

Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning made its big grandstand premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Wednesday, with the first reviews saying it more than lives up to its steamroller hype. "What a rush!" The Guardian declared in its five-star love letter to Cruise's $400-million behemoth, calling him a modern "superhuman action ...

Top chef Georgiana Viou: blending cuisine across continents

This is Beirut, 14/05 19:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benin Food Michelin Bistronomy France Culture Georgiana Viou

Georgiana Viou calls herself a "UFO", championing free and daring cuisine straddling two continents, from Cotonou's lively street markets to the kitchens of her Michelin-starred restaurant in Nimes, southern France. In the alleys of the historic Saint-Michel market in Benin's bustling economic capital, unchanged since her childhood, Viou goes ...

France says to Expel Algerian Diplomats in Tit-for-Tat Move

This is Beirut, 14/05 11:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

France Algiers Algeria

France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate. Relations between Algeria and France, the former colonial power in Africa's largest nation by land area, have been beset by a series of ...

Cannes 2025 Opens with Tribute, Emotion, and a Call for Reflection

Madeleine Cadoux, 14/05 09:45 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Cannes Film Festival France Cinema Culture Stars Cannes

From the very first minutes of the evening, the tone was clear: Cannes celebrates cinema and challenges its history, its myths, and its responsibilities. Honorary Palme d’Or to Robert De Niro One of the night’s most unforgettable moments came when Leonardo DiCaprio, 50, presented the honorary Palme d’Or to 81-year-old Robert De Niro, a ...

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