This is Beirut - culture

Kristen Stewart Breaks Silence with Bold, Unflinching Debut

This is Beirut, 21/05 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Kristen Stewart Cannes Film Festival Cinema Cannes2025 Culture France

"I can't wait to make 10 more movies," Kristen Stewart told AFP the morning after making what Rolling Stone called "one hell of a directorial debut" at the Cannes Film Festival. Nor can film critics, judging from the rave reviews of The Chronology of Water, her startling take on the American swimmer Lidia Yuknavitch's visceral memoir of surviving ...

Boualem Sansal: A Silenced Voice Honored in Paris

This is Beirut, 21/05 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Boualem Sansal Algeria Censorship Culture Prize France

Boualem Sansal, who has been jailed in Algeria for six months, was awarded the international Cino del Duca Prize on Wednesday. The French literary prize honors "the strength of a writer who (...) continues to make their free voice heard." Recognized for his entire body of work, Boualem Sansal joins the ranks of past laureates like Andrei ...

Cannes Film Festival 2025's Fashion Police: Do’s and Don’ts

Marie-Christine Tayah, 20/05 19:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Fashion Cannes Film Festival France Cannes2025 Culture Glamour

The 2025 edition reasserts the Festival’s fashion authority with a stricter code for gala events. Published just one day before the opening ceremony, it caught publicists, fashion houses, and celebrities by surprise. According to the official site: “For gala screenings at the Grand Théâtre Lumière around 7 PM and 10 PM, formal attire ...

Adidas, Puma family Feud to Be Turned Into TV Series

This is Beirut, 20/05 18:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cannes 2025 The brothers Dassler Series Puma-Adidas Germany France Culture

The bitter brotherly feud that sparked the creation of sports-shoe brands Adidas and Puma in the same small German town in the 1940s is to be turned into a television series with the help of family archives, its producers announced Sunday. Hollywood-based film producer No Fat Ego is backing the project, which has the blessing of the family behind ...

Denzel Washington Honored with Surprise Palme d’Or

This is Beirut, 20/05 16:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Denzel Washington Cannes Film Festival France Cannes2025 Culture Cinema

A hard-hitting Egyptian political thriller shook up the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, just before a surprise Honorary Palme d’Or was awarded to Hollywood icon Denzel Washington. The evening also marked the return of French director Julia Ducournau, four years after her explosive win with Titane. The event had been kept tightly under wraps: ...

Pierpaolo Piccioli Takes Over Balenciaga in Bold Shift

This is Beirut, 20/05 15:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Pierpaolo Piccioli Fashion Balenciaga Art Design Culture

Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli has been named creative director at fashion house Balenciaga, taking over from Georgian designer Demna, parent company Kering said Monday. Piccioli, who previously worked at Valentino, will present his first collection in October, after Demna left for Gucci, said the French conglomerate, which owns both ...

Scarlett Johansson Steps Behind Camera in Cannes Debut

This is Beirut, 20/05 12:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Scarlett Johansson Cannes Film Festival Cinema Culture Cannes France

Scarlett Johansson won praise from veteran filmmaker Wes Anderson as she nervously prepared to unveil her debut feature as a director at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. Actors behind the camera are something of a trend in Cannes this year, with Twilight star Kristen Stewart and British actor Harris Dickinson both unveiling their first ...

At Cannes and Beyond, Raphaël Quenard Is the Artist to Watch

Marie-Christine Tayah, 20/05 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Raphaël Quenard Cannes Cannes Film Festival France Culture Art

Raphaël Quenard wears many hats: actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and soon, singer. He broke through in 2023 with standout performances in Chien de la casse by Jean-Baptiste Durand and Yannick by Quentin Dupieux. His work in both earned him César nominations in 2024, and he took home the award for Most Promising Actor for Chien de la ...

Russian Ballet Patriarch Yuri Grigorovich Dies at 98

This is Beirut, 19/05 17:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Russia Ballet Yuri Grigorovich Death Bolshoi Theatre Culture

Legendary Russian ballet figure Yuri Grigorovich, who was for three decades the lead choreographer at Moscow's famed Bolshoi Theatre, has died aged 98. Born in the Soviet city of Leningrad to a ballet family, Grigorovich's career - as a dancer then choreographer - spanned 80 years. For much of it, he was the artistic powerhouse behind ...

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 ...

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