This is Beirut - culture

Iconic Paris hotel Lutetia Taken over by Mandarin Oriental

This is Beirut, 04/04 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

France Hotel History Heritage Culture Art

Situated in the center of the Left Bank area of the French capital, the Art Deco institution was opened in 1910 and owes its existence to its neighbor Bon Marche, one of the first department stores in the world. Real estate group Alrov, controlled by Alfred Akirov and his family, will retain ownership of the building. Originally baptized with the ...

Tom Cruise Bids Emotional Farewell to Val Kilmer

This is Beirut, 04/04 09:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Movie Cinema Heritage Culture Tom Cruise Val Kilmer

During the annual CinemaCon industry summit held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Tom Cruise paid heartfelt tribute to his late Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer, who passed away earlier this week. Before unveiling exclusive footage from his forthcoming film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Cruise led theater owners in a solemn moment of ...

Avignon 2025 Celebrates Arabic through Theater, Dance and Music

This is Beirut, 03/04 17:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Theater Festival France Avignon Culture Art

Cape Verdean choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas will open the 79th edition of the Festival d’Avignon next July in southeastern France, in a program that gives prominence to Arabic, described as a "language of light" and "knowledge" — one that organizers intend to celebrate in response to the "merchants of hate." This major international ...

AI Grows in Anime, but Miyazaki Stays Untouchable

This is Beirut, 03/04 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Art AI Culture Animation Miyazaki

Artificial intelligence might take over some of the work done by Japanese animation artists, but it will never match the brilliance of Hayao Miyazaki — the creative soul of Studio Ghibli — according to his son Goro, speaking to AFP. After the release of the latest ChatGPT version (GPT-4o), the internet was flooded with AI-generated images and ...

Education in Lebanon: The Struggle of Anxious Parents

David Sahyoun, 02/04 18:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Psychoanalysis Trauma Parents Teachers Culture

Lebanon has been entrenched in a protracted, multifaceted structural crisis, compounded by prolonged security instability, regional conflicts, political tensions and sporadic outbreaks of violence. These factors have fostered an environment of uncertainty and anxiety. The war that erupted in 2023 has layered additional trauma and disruption, ...

Val Kilmer, Charismatic Star of 'Top Gun' and 'Batman,' Passed Away

Marie-Christine Tayah, 02/04 14:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Cinema Val Kilmer Culture Art Actor

American actor Val Kilmer has died at the age of 65 from complications of pneumonia, as confirmed by his daughter Mercedes Kilmer to The New York Times. The actor, whose career saw soaring highs and difficult lows, had been battling the long-term effects of throat cancer since 2014, which left him without his voice but never without his artistic ...

Joan of Arc Reborn Through Sacred Songs and Theater

Marie-Christine Tayah, 01/04 16:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Theater Paris France Culture Art

Joan of Arc died at the stake after being convicted of heresy. At just 13, she claimed to hear divine voices that gave her the mission to drive the English out of France. She went on to liberate the city of Orléans and paved the way for Charles VII to be recognized as the legitimate King of France. Nearly six centuries after her death, Joan’s ...

Sam Mendes Plans Four Beatles Biopics for April 2028

This is Beirut, 01/04 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Cinema Movie Film Beatles Culture Art

Sam Mendes will release four movies about The Beatles in the same month, the director announced Monday, with Paul Mescal playing Paul McCartney and Barry Keoghan portraying Ringo Starr in "the first bingeable theatrical experience." The "four-film cinematic event," hitting theaters in April 2028, will each focus on a different member of the ...

CinemaCon Hopes to Revive Hollywood After Box Office Slump

This is Beirut, 31/03 14:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cinema Art Culture

This was meant to be the year the movies bounced back. Yet, as the CinemaCon trade convention kicks off Monday in Las Vegas, theater owners are hoping and praying for signs that 2025 is back on track. The box office has endured a terrible start, reeling from high-profile flops like Disney’s live-action Snow White, superhero sequel Captain ...

'A Working Man' Beats 'Snow White' in Box Office

This is Beirut, 31/03 10:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Cinema Film Art US Culture

MGM's new thriller A Working Man, with Jason Statham, emerged atop a flock of new films this weekend in North America, earning an estimated $15.2 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The action film, from Suicide Squad director David Ayer, features Statham as a military veteran who comes out of retirement to seek the ...

Robert Bared: Rain as Muse, Paris as the Setting (2/2)

Bélinda Ibrahim, 30/03 18:30 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Paris Photography Robert Bared Art Culture

There are moments that alter the course of a life—brief instants that crystallize an artistic calling. For Robert Bared, it was a summer storm beneath the canopy of the Luxembourg Gardens, some 20 years ago. A Proustian moment in the truest sense—not rooted in childhood, but in its power to set in motion an unrelenting artistic ...

'So British': British Wit and Wonder Shine at La Gacilly Festival

This is Beirut, 30/03 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Festival Photography Culture Art

Irreverent, whimsical, or eccentric—this year’s La Gacilly Photo Festival, now in its 22nd edition, is shining a spotlight on the "offbeat eye" of British photographers. Starting June 1st, the picturesque village in Brittany’s Morbihan region will transform into an open-air gallery. Around 700 photos, some displayed in massive outdoor ...

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