fashion

Haute Couture Week begins in Paris

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • – History - Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
  • Four days of ultra-exclusive Haute Couture fashion shows get underway in Paris on Monday, but how is the calendar constructed and who gets to take part?
  • – History - Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
Four days of ultra-exclusive Haute Couture fashion shows get underway in Paris on Monday, but how is the calendar constructed and who gets to take part? AFP has the answers.
– A restricted circle -
Only 13 houses hold the official "Haute Couture" accreditation, which is a legally protected term overseen by France's Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM).
These include luxury heavyweights Dior, Chanel and Givenchy, as well as Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Alexis Mabille and Schiaparelli.
The designation is granted for one year only and must be renewed each season.
Some major French labels are not included, such as Saint Laurent and Hermes.
The former gave up Haute Couture in 2002 when founder Yves Saint Laurent left the house, while the latter plans to launch around 2027.
These houses are joined by seven "corresponding members", which have an activity considered similar to Haute Couture but are not based in France.
They include Italian brands Armani and Valentino, Lebanese designer Elie Saab and Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf.
The FHCM also invites several guest designers to show each season.
Syria's Rami Al Ali, France's Julie de Libran and Swiss designer Kevin Germanier are among the 28 houses showing through Thursday.
There will also be a debut by Phan Huy, who is the youngest designer ever invited to Paris Haute Couture Week by the FHCM -- aged just 26 -- and is the first Vietnamese couturier in the programme.
"What is interesting is both the presence of very large houses and young designers from abroad who bring new energy and a new vision," said Pierre Groppo, fashion and lifestyle editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair France.
– Criteria - 
Official Haute Couture houses must meet strict criteria to earn the label.
Designs must be original, made to measure and by hand, and created exclusively by the brand's permanent artistic director, in workshops based in France.
The house must also have two separate workshops: a "tailleur" workshop for structured, architectural garments such as jackets, coats and trousers, and a "flou" workshop for soft, fluid pieces such as dresses or blouses.
The FHCM monitoring committee also requires a workforce of at least 20 employees, as well as the presentation of two shows a year in Paris, in January and July.
In theory, houses are meant to present at least 25 looks combining daywear and eveningwear.
There is some flexibility for smaller houses, however. 
"If there are only 21 or 22 looks, we're not going to play the police," Pascal Morand, head of the FHCM, told AFP, adding that the rule of two shows per year had also recently been relaxed.
– History -
Haute Couture predates ready-to-wear fashion, which is industrially produced clothing in large quantities.
Designers cater to an extremely exclusive clientele able to purchase pieces for thousands of dollars intended for red carpets, galas, weddings or other public events.
It was born in Paris in the late 19th century, with figures such as Charles Frederick Worth, Jeanne Paquin and Paul Poiret, and has been legally protected and regulated since 1945 by the French industry ministry.
Morand called it a "laboratory" of craftsmanship and creativity that is a "symbol of French identity."
In December, it was added to France's intangible cultural heritage list, the first step towards earning world heritage status which is granted by the UN's UNESCO body.
mdv/adp/gv/mjw

fashion

Men's fashion goes low-risk in uncertain world

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
  • Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
After a 2025 marked by sweeping turnover among creative directors and numerous debuts, this Fall/Winter 2026 edition was more measured, in substance as well as in style. 
"It’s been a fairly conservative season, without any incredible propositions," Matthieu Morge Zucconi, head of men’s fashion at France's Le Figaro newspaper, told AFP. 
"We’re in a period where we zero in on what's essential. You can feel it in the shows," added Astrid Faguer, fashion journalist at Les Echos newspaper. 
Against a backdrop of worrying international news and economic turbulence in the luxury sector, brands are looking to reassure customers rather than risk unsettling them, experts agree. 

Suits in force

The classic suit-and-tie duo stood out as one of the strongest markers on the runways.
The overall colour palette was fairly classic: black, gray, beige and brown, with a few brighter touches, like the purple seen from Dior to Vuitton, via Issey Miyake and Etudes Studio. 
The extravagant over-sized jackets with large shoulder pads of previous seasons have become more fitted -- still loosely tailored, but more traditional.
"I think that with age and the way my view of the world is evolving now, I wanted to create a silhouette that's ... a bit more fitted," head of Paris-based 3.Paradis, Emeric Tchatchoua, told AFP.
Louis Vuitton chief designer Pharrell Williams wrote that his fairly conventional collection was "designed to endure rather than expire, it is a timeless expression."
For Adrien Communier, head of fashion at GQ magazine in France, the restraint signals a return to basics. 
"There’s really a phenomenon of creating clothes for the now, that will be able to last and take on everyday life," he observes. 
According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
"It’s impossible not to see a reference to the international context. I think there’s something very responsive and pragmatic in relation to that," he told AFP. 
The unstable state of the world has weighed on luxury sales over the last few years, crimping profits at luxury groups which had enjoyed a post-Covid sales bonanza.  
- 'Normality' - 
It was not all sensible shapes and tasteful tailoring.
Dior designer Jonathan Anderson appeared keener than most to take some risks.
He said he didn't want "normality" as he reimagined modern-day aristocrats for his second men's collection, adding that his designs included some "angst and a kind of wrongness, engulfing wrong taste".
He sent out shirts with checks adorned with rhinestone-fringed epaulettes, while models wore yellow or spiked wigs.
The Bar jacket, a Dior signature item, was redesigned in a shrunken format
A grey cape-coat from Dries van Noten had tiny embedded jewels embedded in a gray cape-coat, while there were faux-fur coats for men at KidSuper and Willy Chavarria. 
Embroidery showed up in several shows, while floral prints and patchwork bomber jackets also featured.
Simon Longland, chief fashion buyer for London luxury store Harrod's, also said that the past week had been about designers "offering flexibility, comfort and longevity."
"Broadly, collections felt less driven by trend and more focused on creating pieces with purpose -- clothing intended to be worn, lived in and valued over multiple seasons rather than defined by the moment alone," he said.
mdr-adp/gv

film

Swinging to win: 'The Invite' delivers comedy gold at Sundance

  • "She kept sending us names of other people.
  • Most marriages have those moments: people are coming for dinner; one of you isn't really in the mood.
  • "She kept sending us names of other people.
Most marriages have those moments: people are coming for dinner; one of you isn't really in the mood. But not everyone finds out that their guests are into raucous group sex -- and want you to join them.
Olivia Wilde's blisteringly funny "The Invite" explores what happens when a husband and wife who have long since tired of each other find themselves sitting down with a couple very much in the throes of passion.
The film plunges Joe and Angela (Seth Rogen and Wilde) and Pina and Hawk (Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton) into a pressure cooker of awkward small talk, simmering anger, and sexual tension -- with comedic and relatable results.
"Anyone who's ever been in a relationship of any kind, I think will recognize some of these themes," Wilde told AFP at the Sundance Film Festival, where the movie had its premiere Saturday.
"We made this as a playful piece to allow people to laugh and get in touch with their feelings, maybe a little bit."
Joe, whose band had a minor hit two decades earlier, is now a ball of resentment over his life as a teacher in a second-rate music school. He's a curmudgeon whose back aches and who no longer touches the piano that once gave him so much joy.
Angela has an arts school degree but never did anything with it, directing her energy into decorating the San Francisco apartment they inherited from Joe's parents, and listening with envy to the earth-shaking orgasms her upstairs neighbor has.
When Pina and Hawk arrive for dinner, Angela is desperate to get along and determined to stop Joe from complaining to them about what he calls those "animal" sex noises.
But it's Pina and Hawk who broach the subject, on their way to offering what turns out to be the real invite of the film.

Improvisation

The blistering script by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones ("Celeste and Jesse Forever") is the framework on which an A-list cast wantonly improvises, delivering a rapid fire of provocative lines.
"We had this rehearsal period where the six of us sat in a soundstage and we just dug into it," said Wilde.
"Several of the greatest moments in the movie are written by the cast."
Then when it came to filming, the performers let rip, which made the editing process very tricky, she said.
"There was such an embarrassment of riches," Wilde told the audience. "I had to lose this gold every day."
Rogan, who told AFP he is "a big fan of Olivia's," said when he first signed on to do the movie, Wilde was only set to direct -- something he and Norton were adamant was not right.
"Me and Edward were texting each other. We're just, like, 'How... do we talk her into being in the movie?'" he told the audience.
"She kept sending us names of other people. I was, like, 'Why are you doing this? There's an obvious person who should do this.'
"Then once she decided to cast herself in this film... it really took off."
Norton said Wilde's third directorial project, after "Booksmart" and "Don't Worry Darling," had been a masterclass in keeping plates spinning.
"Seth and I both have directed films that we've been acting in as well," he told the audience.
"Inevitably, you come to moments where you say, 'This was a terrible decision.'"
But that never seemed to happen with "The Invite."
"It's hard for me to overstate the grace and wisdom with which Olivia gave that performance and directed us," he said.
The Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/mlm

Canada

'Mercy' debuts atop N.America box office, dislodging 'Avatar'

  • "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
  • Sci-fi thriller "Mercy" starring Chris Pratt debuted atop the North American box office with $11 million in ticket sales, ending the five-week reign of "Avatar: Fire and Ash," industry estimates showed Sunday.
  • "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
Sci-fi thriller "Mercy" starring Chris Pratt debuted atop the North American box office with $11 million in ticket sales, ending the five-week reign of "Avatar: Fire and Ash," industry estimates showed Sunday.
Pratt plays a man on trial for murdering his wife in the Amazon MGM Studios film, with his fate in the hands of an artificial intelligence judge.
The brutal winter storm hitting a large swath of the United States cut into the weekend totals, according to David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
"Considering the extreme weather that's closing theaters across two-thirds of the US and keeping people home, it's a very good opening," Gross said of "Mercy."
"The final numbers may be lower on Monday after we see the effects of the cold and snow."
"Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment in James Cameron's blockbuster fantasy series, came in second in the United States and Canada with another $7 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
That puts its domestic box office haul at $378.5 million, with an additional $1 billion overseas, according to Box Office Mojo.
Disney's Oscar-nominated animated film "Zootopia 2" churned along, remaining in third place at $5.7 million and crossing the $400 million mark in the US and Canada.
In fourth place at $4.2 million was Lionsgate's "The Housemaid," an adaptation of Freida McFadden's best-selling novel about a young woman who is hired by a wealthy couple with dark secrets.
In fifth place was "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," the fourth installment in the zombie horror series, at $3.6 million.
Rounding out the top 10 are:
"Marty Supreme" ($3.5 million)
"Return to Silent Hill" ($3.3 million)
"Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" ($2 million in re-release) 
"Hamnet" ($2 million)
"Primate" ($1.6 million)
bur-sst/des

shooting

Hollywood stars slam ICE after fatal Minneapolis shooting

  • Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
  • Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
  • Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
Actress Olivia Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of "The Invite," said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was "unfathomable."
"I can't believe that we're watching people get murdered in the street," she told AFP.
"These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote 'officers,' and watching them be murdered -- it's unfathomable. We cannot normalize it."
Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.
Pretti's death came weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car in the city.
Wilde, who wore an "ICE OUT" badge, said the US government violence against people exercising their right to free expression was "un-American."
"We may have a government that is somehow trying to make excuses for it and legitimize it, but we (Americans) don't."
Fellow actress Natalie Portman, who was promoting "The Gallerist," got emotional as she described her feelings over a "horrible day."
"What is happening in our country is just obscene," she told AFP in Park City.
"What (President Donald) Trump and (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and ICE are doing to our citizens and to undocumented people is outrageous and needs to end."
hg/lga/mtp

Bollywood

India's Bollywood bets big on 'event cinema'

BY SEEMA SINHA

  • - 'Propaganda' - Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
  • India's Bollywood is moving decisively towards a cinema of scale and confrontation -- where patriotism, spectacle, and ideological clarity increasingly trump nuance and narrative risk, industry insiders say.
  • - 'Propaganda' - Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
India's Bollywood is moving decisively towards a cinema of scale and confrontation -- where patriotism, spectacle, and ideological clarity increasingly trump nuance and narrative risk, industry insiders say.
The shift has fuelled what experts describe as "event cinema", as studios rely on big-budget spectacles and top-tier stars to lure audiences -- especially smartphone-loving Gen Z viewers -- back into theatres.
That strategy appears to be working. Akshaye Rathi, a prominent film exhibitor, predicted a 45–50 percent rise in net Hindi box-office collections and a 25 percent increase in young theatre-goers this year.
"The year looks poised for historic numbers," Rathi told AFP.
The industry's financial model was shaken during the Covid-19 pandemic, which coincided with the rapid rise of streaming platforms and a shift to home viewing.
But its 2026 upcoming slate, packed with patriotic war dramas, spy thrillers, mythological epics and nationalist narratives -- reflects not just a commercial recalibration, analysts say, but a broader change in creative priorities.

'Propaganda'

Critics argue Bollywood is increasingly producing polarising films aligned with the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, using cinema's unrivalled mass reach to shape public sentiment.
"These days film themes also depend upon who is ruling at the centre -- Hindu wave, propaganda... all these are big factors that filmmakers cash in on," said movie business analyst Atul Mohan, editor of film trade magazine Complete Cinema. "But only one or two films work, not all 10 or 15."
He cited the success of 2022 blockbuster "The Kashmir Files", depicting in harrowing detail how several hundred thousand Hindus fled Muslim militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1989-90.
And he compared that with the 2025 film "The Bengal Files", on alleged political violence in eastern India, which he described as a commercial "disaster".
Films centred on geopolitical conflict, internal enemies, and heroic masculinity now dominate mainstream Hindi cinema, reflecting both the political mood and the economics of theatrical survival.
Last year's gory action thriller "Dhurandhar", meaning "formidable", leaned heavily on hyper-nationalist tropes of Indian agents confronting Pakistan-linked foes, and became one of 2025's highest-grossing films -- following a real-life four-day border clash with Pakistan.
Its sequel, "Dhurandhar 2", again starring Ranveer Singh, is set for release in March.

'Gratuitous violence'

Veteran Delhi-based film critic Arnab Banerjee said political messaging now outweighs craftsmanship.
"It is not the quality of the film that matters today, it is propaganda films that are working," said Banerjee.
"The mood of the nation is such that people are lapping up these subjects. Pakistan-bashing and references to enemy countries are being accepted without questioning."
Banerjee also criticised what he called an excess of "gratuitous violence", arguing that "it is social media hype that is deciding the film's fate."
He pointed to "Ikkis", a film on the 1971 India–Pakistan war released in January, which struggled commercially despite positive reviews.
"It is a well-made film, but it didn't work," he said. "Perhaps because Pakistan is not shown as the enemy."
Director Ahmed Khan, however, said quality still ultimately determines success, citing his upcoming action-comedy "Welcome to the Jungle", starring Akshay Kumar.
"Whatever the genre -- action, drama, comedy or horror -- it depends on how well you've made it," Khan said.
He pointed to the 2025 successes of the contrasting romantic drama "Saiyaara" as well as high-octane "Dhurandhar".
"Both, poles apart in genre, did great business," he said. "People's mood can change any time."
str-pjm/ane

fashion

Paris fashion doyenne Nichanian bows out at Hermes after 37 years

BY MARINE DO-VALE AND ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • Many of them were barely in school when Nichanian took over menswear at Hermes in 1988 with instructions from then company boss Jean-Louis Dumas to run it "like your small company".
  • France's Veronique Nichanian received a standing ovation from a star-packed crowd at her final runway show for Hermes on Saturday after 37 years as chief menswear designer, the end of an era at the family-run firm.
  • Many of them were barely in school when Nichanian took over menswear at Hermes in 1988 with instructions from then company boss Jean-Louis Dumas to run it "like your small company".
France's Veronique Nichanian received a standing ovation from a star-packed crowd at her final runway show for Hermes on Saturday after 37 years as chief menswear designer, the end of an era at the family-run firm.
American singer Usher, rapper Travis Scott and "Gossip Girl" star Ed Westwick watched on as Nichanian sent out a nostalgia-tinged final collection at the historic stock market building in Paris.
"I'm feeling emotional, it’s my decision to stop and do something else," the 71-year-old told AFP afterwards. "It’s a decision I’ve thought through carefully because I feel it’s the right moment for me, and for the house."
The departure of the doyenne of Paris fashion adds to the upheaval at the top of the luxury clothing sector over the last 12 months, which has seen a new generation of designers promoted at brands including Chanel, Dior and Gucci.
Many of them were barely in school when Nichanian took over menswear at Hermes in 1988 with instructions from then company boss Jean-Louis Dumas to run it "like your small company".
The Paris-born designer helped transform a niche luxury brand known for its scarves and leather goods into a global fashion profit machine with sales of menswear estimated at several billion euros a year.
Her design philosophy mirrors her own discreet personality, with a focus on quality and comfort through quiet evolutions, rather than flashy re-invention.
Her final collection for Fall-Winter 2026, which included outfits inspired by her work in the 1990s and early 2000s, "underlines how Hermes clothes are timeless," she told AFP.
She will be replaced by 30-something London designer Grace Wales Bonner, founder of her own Wales Bonner label who will produce her first Hermes collection next year.
Wales Bonner, whose work draws on her father's Afro-Caribbean roots in Jamaica and British tailoring, represents a generational and stylistic shift for the classic French brand.
"Grace Wales Bonner is very modern, committed. Hermes has chosen someone who will bring not only quality, but also an image and a point of view," Marie Ottavi, a fashion journalist at France's Liberation newspaper, told AFP.

'Macho milieu' 

On the eve of her last show, Nichanian told the Business of Fashion website that no one at Hermes had said "you have to stop" but she had felt the need to step back due to the frenetic pace of the corporate business.
"There's so much change, it loses something magic, the something that makes people happy," she told the website about the fashion industry.
"When I talk to my friends at the different houses, they're not happy. It's not only insecurity, it's pressure."
She will remain in charge of men's accessories and silk at Hermes. 
The Armenian-origin designer started her career with Italian legend Nino Cerruti, who plucked her from her Paris fashion school, L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (ESCP).
Speaking to AFP in 2014, she confided that she had had to "work harder" as a woman in "a pretty macho milieu and the men didn't expect a woman to tell them what to do." 
As well as her gradual modernising touch, she has also won fans for her attention to what she calls "selfish" details, hidden touches of luxury such as a lambskin-lined pocket.
"We women can sometimes make concessions to comfort. But men, never," she told Le Figaro newspaper in 2018. 

KidSuper

Elsewhere at Paris Men's Fashion Week on Saturday, celeb-favorite Kidsuper founder Colm Dillane produced one of his typically eccentric and creative runway shows.
It began with a short film directed by Dillane featuring veteran French actor Vincent Cassel as a paranoid Parisian losing his grasp on reality and ending with models sitting at cafe tables on the catwalk.
The clothes featured long faux fur coats and patterned trenches for men, or patchwork bombers, all with lavish textures in a palette of autumnal greens, browns and ochre.
Men's Fashion Week concludes Sunday with a show by Jacquemus before the start of Haute Couture Week on Monday. 
adp-mdv/gv

film

This is spinal... brat? Charli xcx stars in mockumentary 'The Moment'

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • She and her tour's creative director, Celeste (played by Hailey Gates), want to move on from "brat," the skinny tank tops and IDGAF self-indulgence that dominated 2024, when her album of the same name ruled streaming platforms.
  • What's a megastar to do when she has defined an entire summer, produced a multi-million-selling album and even persuaded the dictionary eggheads to declare "brat" a word of the year?
  • She and her tour's creative director, Celeste (played by Hailey Gates), want to move on from "brat," the skinny tank tops and IDGAF self-indulgence that dominated 2024, when her album of the same name ruled streaming platforms.
What's a megastar to do when she has defined an entire summer, produced a multi-million-selling album and even persuaded the dictionary eggheads to declare "brat" a word of the year?
That's the conundrum at the heart of "The Moment," a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary starring Charli XCX as she grapples with her meteoric rise to fame and tries to prepare for a sell-out arena tour.
"I'm obviously quite related to my character," the 33-year-old British singer quipped at the Sundance Film Festival, where "The Moment" premiered on Friday.
"I would like to think I'm not as much of a nightmare as Charli in the film," she said to laughter.
The celluloid Charli is indeed a bit of a nightmare: a pastiche of a controlling diva who is on top of every detail, and yet is just a young singer thrust suddenly into the global spotlight and surrounded by an oppressive and needy entourage.
She and her tour's creative director, Celeste (played by Hailey Gates), want to move on from "brat," the skinny tank tops and IDGAF self-indulgence that dominated 2024, when her album of the same name ruled streaming platforms.
But the suits -- the record label executive (Rosanna Arquette) and Johannes, the solipsistic film director hired to shepherd the tour movie (Alexander Skarsgard) -- want to keep the "brat" money machine rolling.
The clash of artistic vision sees Celeste and Johannes battle it out over tour design, in which her on-brand strobe and in-your-face messaging gives way to his light-up wrist bands and a stage set that "looks like a lava lamp," she tells Charli.
A bizarre credit card endorsement aimed at young, queer customers ("How will they know?" asks a bewildered Charli) adds to the pressure and Charli jets off to a spa on Ibiza.
A chance encounter there with Kylie Jenner (in a cameo appearance) sends Charli further down the celebrity spiral, and she caves in to Johannes' sanitized vision of her tour.

Tribute to Reiner

The script, written by Bertie Brandes and Aidan Zamiri, who also directs, draws heavily on archetypes in a plot that sticks closely to the familiar artist-against-the-machine formula.
But, Charli said, those characters accurately describe the music industry.
"I've met different versions of all of the characters in this film," she told filmgoers.
"I've met the people who are truly rooting for you... I've met the people who are in it to be close to the artist. I've met the sort of people who are so 'we totally get you', and they really don't."
Debut feature director Zamiri, whose background is in music videos, said the mockumentary style he was aiming for owed a debt of gratitude to "This is Spinal Tap" -- the 1984 comedy about a fictional British band.
"I think this film wouldn't exist without Rob Reiner and 'Spinal Tap'," he said, paying tribute to the director who was murdered alongside his wife in their Los Angeles home in December.

Pivot

"The Moment" is one of three films starring Charli XCX that are screening at Sundance; she has smaller roles in ensemble pieces "I Want Your Sex" with Olivia Wilde and "The Gallerist," which features Natalie Portman.
The move into film is a deliberate effort to find something new, she told the audience.
"Right now, like the 'me' in the film, I am really wanting 'brat' to stop and actually really pivot as far away from it as possible," she said.
"And that's not because I don't love it. It's just because I think for all of us as artists, you want to challenge yourself, and you want to switch the creative soup that you're in and go and live in a different bowl for a while and just feel enriched by that."
Asked how she finds time for so many projects, she reached for a lyric from her smash track "365."
"I don't know, I just do. When you love it, you do it, right? 'Don't sleep, don't eat, just do it on repeat,' to quote myself," she said with a mock curtsy.
The Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/sst

film

Lula revived Brazilian cinema, says 'The Secret Agent' director

BY RAMON SAHMKOW

  • -  "I think any story about the use of power to crush people will always be universal," Mendonca Filho said.
  • Brazil's latest Oscar-nominated thriller "The Secret Agent" has resonated with audiences around the world as a universal tale of authoritarian regimes using their power "to crush people," director Kleber Mendonca Filho told AFP in an interview.
  • -  "I think any story about the use of power to crush people will always be universal," Mendonca Filho said.
Brazil's latest Oscar-nominated thriller "The Secret Agent" has resonated with audiences around the world as a universal tale of authoritarian regimes using their power "to crush people," director Kleber Mendonca Filho told AFP in an interview.
Following on "I'm Still Here," winner of last year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the new film about Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship has captivated Hollywood.
Fresh from winning two Golden Globes, the period thriller picked up four Oscar nominations on Thursday -- Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Actor for Wagner Moura and Best Casting.
Mendonca Filho, the director of 2016's "Aquarius," about a woman refusing to be driven out of her home by developers, and 2019's anti-imperialism drama "Bacurau," links the current boom in the Brazilian film industry to the return to power of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2023.
Under Lula's far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, "culture was extinguished in Brazil," he said.
Mendonca Filho spoke with AFP from Recife, his hometown in northeastern Brazil, where he received the news of the Oscar nominations.
In the film set in Recife, Moura -- of "Civil War," "Elite Squad" and "Narcos" fame -- plays a university professor recently arrived from Sao Paulo, who is unaware that he is being hunted by hitmen linked to the military regime.
Mendonca Filho lavished Moura with praise, saying "he's a great actor, a great artist and a great person. And he's exactly where he should be" among the nominees for best performance. 
Below are excerpts from the interview, edited for clarity. 

How do you explain this moment in Brazilian cinema?

"Brazilian cinema reconnected with the current with Lula's election in 2022, after four years in which culture, practically speaking, was extinguished in Brazil," Mendonca Filho said.
"The Ministry of Culture was eliminated. All support mechanisms were deactivated. 
"(The) two films that were very well received in Brazil and internationally, 'I Am Still Here' and 'The Secret Agent,' became showcase films for Brazilian cinema."
- What's the global appeal of a film about Brazil's last dictatorship? - 
"I think any story about the use of power to crush people will always be universal," Mendonca Filho said.
"The world today is the same one of wars, invasions, land grabs, the use of military or personal power, aggression and battles -- it's nothing new. What's shocking is that the same mistakes keep being made. 
"When I wrote 'The Secret Agent,' I initially thought it would be set in 1977, but I began to realize that the film spoke a lot to the logic of Brazil in 2019 or 2021 (under Bolsonaro). A logic passed down from the past. 
"In the midst of 21st-century democracy, a group of politicians decided to revive the iconography, the words, the methods and the lack of ethics of the military regime." 

How did US audiences receive the film?

"The reaction is very positive. Many people in contemporary America can identify with its story. I think the reaction is largely due to the historical moment the United States is going through," Mendonca Filho said.

Does cinema have a political role to play?

"I don't see any obligation to make political films," Mendonca Filho said.
"If you make a film or tell a story honestly, frankly and knowledgeably, you will probably contribute to a better understanding of a country or society. 
"My films have contributed to the debate in some way, but they weren't designed for that purpose.
"I don't make films to be symbols of resistance, but I believe that art, artistic expression, can function very well as a form of resistance."
rsr/app/sla/lga

film

'One in a Million': Syrian refugee tale wows Sundance

  • There was "something about Isra'a that sort of felt to us like it encapsulated everything about what was happening there," MacInnes told an audience at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Friday.
  • As a million Syrians fled their country's devastating civil war in 2015, directors Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes headed to Turkey where they would meet a young girl who encapsulated the contradictions of this enormous migration.
  • There was "something about Isra'a that sort of felt to us like it encapsulated everything about what was happening there," MacInnes told an audience at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Friday.
As a million Syrians fled their country's devastating civil war in 2015, directors Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes headed to Turkey where they would meet a young girl who encapsulated the contradictions of this enormous migration.
In Ismir, they met Isra'a, a then-11-year-old girl whose family had left Aleppo as bombs rained down on the city, and who would become the subject of their documentary "One In A Million," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.
For the next ten years, they followed her and her family's travels through Europe, towards Germany and a new life, where the opportunities and the challenges would almost tear her family apart.
There was "something about Isra'a that sort of felt to us like it encapsulated everything about what was happening there," MacInnes told an audience at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Friday.
"The obvious vulnerability of her situation, especially as being a child going through this, but that at the same time, she was an agent.
"She wasn't sitting back, waiting for other people to save her. She was trying to fight, make her own way there."
The documentary mixes fly-on-the-wall footage with sit-down interviews that reveal Isra'a's changing relationship with Germany, with her religion, and with her father.
It is this evolution between father and daughter that provides the emotional backbone to the film, and through which tensions play out over their new-found freedoms in Europe -- something her father struggles to adjust to.
Isra'a, who by the end of the film is a married mother living in Germany, said watching her life on film in the Park City theatre was "beautiful."
And having documentarists follow her every step of the way as she grew had its upsides.
"I felt like this was something very special," she told the audience after the screening. "My friends thought I was famous; it made making friends easier and faster."

Search

Family is also at the center of Michal Marczak's beautifully-shot "Closure," which landed at Sundance on Friday.
The intensely cinematic documentary tells the story of a father's search for his teenage son, who vanished from a bridge over the Vistula River, Poland's longest water course.
Over 12 months, Marczak follows Daniel as he searches the river, using boats, underwater drones and hand tools, torn between the dread that he might find Chris' body and the desperate hope that he might be alive.
The river, at times hauntingly beautiful and others murky and unknowable, offers a mirror to Daniel's torment, and to the increasingly fragile hope of his wife, Agnieszka, that Chris will one day come home.
Daniel’s quest expands from the river into the digital world, as he tries to understand how a generation that seems constantly connected can sometimes feel so cut off.
His unrelenting river search lends him a degree of fame in Poland, and he is contacted by another father whose child is missing, eventually helping him to find her body.
Marczak said he had begun the film almost by accident, when he and his wife were rafting down the river thinking about a fiction project when they ran into trouble.
"We were trying to dock on this island, it got quite dangerous," he said.
"Then out of nowhere, this man appeared and he guided us to safety and that was Daniel. 
"We spent the night together by the campfire, and he told us about why he's there. I saw the emotions and...I just couldn't stop thinking about it."
At that moment, he decided to abandon the feature project and make a documentary instead.
Sundance Film Festival runs until February 1.
hg/sla

Britain

Robbie Williams tops Beatles for most number one albums in UK

  • "But here he is, on top of the world, the UK's number 1 album artist -- of all time!"
  • Pop superstar Robbie Williams has surpassed the Beatles as the artist with the most number one albums in the history of the British charts, sales trackers said Friday.
  • "But here he is, on top of the world, the UK's number 1 album artist -- of all time!"
Pop superstar Robbie Williams has surpassed the Beatles as the artist with the most number one albums in the history of the British charts, sales trackers said Friday.
The news came a week after Williams released "Britpop", now officially his 16th UK chart-topping album.
"He's the one!" said the Official Charts Company, referencing the hit 1998 single "She's the One" by the former Take That frontman.
Since Williams, 51, started his chart-topping career with his 1997 solo debut, "Life Thru a Lens", he has sold an estimated 20 million albums in the UK.
"Britpop" is his first in seven years.
"Not even the confident young 16-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent would have believed this were possible when he joined Take That back in 1990," Official Charts chief executive Martin Talbot said in a statement.
"But here he is, on top of the world, the UK's number 1 album artist -- of all time!"
In his 35-year career, Williams has sold 80 million albums worldwide.
The Beatles now stand in second place on the British album chart-topping list with 15, followed by the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift, tied with 14, and Elvis Presley with 13.
mhc/dth/jhb/jj

music

Spanish prosecutors dismiss sex abuse case against Julio Iglesias

BY DIEGO URDANETA

  • But the preliminary investigation was dismissed because of a "lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts", Spanish prosecutors wrote in their decision.
  • Spanish prosecutors on Friday shelved a sex abuse and human trafficking complaint against veteran singer Julio Iglesias, saying Spain's courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
  • But the preliminary investigation was dismissed because of a "lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts", Spanish prosecutors wrote in their decision.
Spanish prosecutors on Friday shelved a sex abuse and human trafficking complaint against veteran singer Julio Iglesias, saying Spain's courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
Two women -- a domestic worker and a physiotherapist -- alleged they had suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias's properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.
The allegations dominated headlines in Spain after being aired last week in a joint investigation by online Spanish newspaper elDiario.es and US television network Univision.
But the preliminary investigation was dismissed because of a "lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts", Spanish prosecutors wrote in their decision.
After reviewing the complaint, they said they could not open an investigation because the victims "are foreign" and "do not reside in Spain", and the accused is also outside the country.
Madrid-born Iglesias, 82, lives between Miami, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
The alleged acts took place "in countries fully competent" to investigate them, the prosecutors added.
Advocacy groups Women's Link Worldwide and Amnesty International had said a complaint filed with Spanish prosecutors on January 5 outlined alleged acts that could be considered "a crime of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour" and "crimes against sexual freedom".
The two organisations called the prosecutors' decision "regrettable" and said the two women "will continue fighting for justice and will pursue all available legal avenues", in a statement published in elDiario.es.
Spanish prosecutors said their ruling does not prevent the women from filing their complaint in other jurisdictions.

Jurisdiction issue

According to testimony collected by the two groups, Iglesias subjected the women to "sexual harassment, regularly checked their mobile phones, restricted their ability to leave the home where they worked, and required them to work up to 16 hours a day without days off".
Iglesias called the accusations "absolutely false", saying he had never "abused, coerced, or disrespected any woman".
"I have never felt such malice, but I still have the strength to let people know the whole truth and to defend my dignity against such a serious accusation," he added in an Instagram message last week.
Iglesias's lawyer, Jose Antonio Choclan, told Spain's top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, earlier this week that the alleged acts should be prosecuted where they occurred, requesting the case be closed.
The complaint was submitted in Spain and not the Caribbean countries where the crimes allegedly took place because of the nature of Spanish legislation on gender-based violence and trafficking, Women's Link Worldwide said.
Iglesias, father of fellow superstar singer Enrique Iglesias, is a Grammy winner with more than 300 million records sold in a career spanning decades.
bur-du/imm-ds/jhb

fashion

Stars turn out for Valentino's funeral in Rome

  • Hollywood actress Hathaway, who attended the funeral with her husband Adam Shulman, this week paid tribute to a "titan of a designer" who was also a friend with whom she shared dancing and karaoke. 
  • Anne Hathaway and Donatella Versace were among the stars who attended the funeral Friday of legendary Italian designer Valentino Garavani, with some mourners wearing touches of his trademark red in tribute.
  • Hollywood actress Hathaway, who attended the funeral with her husband Adam Shulman, this week paid tribute to a "titan of a designer" who was also a friend with whom she shared dancing and karaoke. 
Anne Hathaway and Donatella Versace were among the stars who attended the funeral Friday of legendary Italian designer Valentino Garavani, with some mourners wearing touches of his trademark red in tribute.
Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs was decorated with wreaths of white roses while a large photo of the designer, who died on Monday aged 93, was placed in front of the altar.
Throughout a long career, Valentino dressed some of the world's most elegant women, from Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Kennedy to Princess Diana, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Hollywood actress Hathaway, who attended the funeral with her husband Adam Shulman, this week paid tribute to a "titan of a designer" who was also a friend with whom she shared dancing and karaoke. 
He "made my world so much brighter, grander and more delightful than I could have ever understood it to be", she wrote on Instagram.
"Now he rests forever surrounded by eternal beauty, a most fitting next chapter for the one true Emperor who gifted us all a legacy of unparalleled magnificence... I love you my darling, and I miss you already," she wrote.
Designers Versace, Tom Ford, Alessandro Michele -- the creative director of Valentino -- Balenciaga's Pier Paolo Piccioli, Anna Fendi and Brunello Cucinelli were also among the guests, as was fashion editor Anna Wintour.
Led by Valentino's partner Giancarlo Giammetti, most of the mourners -- who also included many of Valentino's employees -- wore black.
But several wore a red hat, scarf or shawl, recalling the designer's signature colour.
Valentino died on Monday at his home in Rome, and his coffin was put on public display at his foundation in the city centre on Wednesday and Thursday.
"We'll never find the class that Valentino had again," said one member of the public who came to pay his respects, Francesco Sangiovanni, 81.
"He conquered the world with his refinement... and he enhanced Italy, because he brought Italy to the world. The greatest people wore Valentino," he told AFP.
jra-ar/yad

film

'Navalny' director hits right notes in Sundance fiction debut

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • Roher said the process of making a feature film had been fascinating, not least because after years in documentary, he was suddenly working with actors.
  • Academy Award-winning documentary director Daniel Roher was back at Sundance on Thursday for the film festival's opening day, showcasing a sharp turn in his work.
  • Roher said the process of making a feature film had been fascinating, not least because after years in documentary, he was suddenly working with actors.
Academy Award-winning documentary director Daniel Roher was back at Sundance on Thursday for the film festival's opening day, showcasing a sharp turn in his work.
Roher, whose "Navalny" scooped Best Documentary Oscar for its poignant telling of the life of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, shifted gears into fiction for "Tuner," starring Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall.
Part odd-couple, part heartbreaking romance and part thriller, "Tuner" was the answer to the question: "Now what?" after Roher scooped Hollywood's biggest prize in 2023, the director said.
"I was 29 and I was sitting there thinking to myself: 'What... do I do now?" Roher told an audience in Park City, Utah.
"I actually fell into this little rut... I didn't feel like making anything. I was really scared and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment and everything."
A chance encounter with a piano tuner -- the husband of his wife's friend -- set him wondering what this previously unconsidered profession was all about.
"He was like, 'it's about atrophy and entropy and the forces of the universe'," he said. "'They want to pull these strings out of tune, and it's my job to keep them in tune so people can play'."
"And I was like: let me write this down."
Hoffman -- in stunning form as the eccentric owner of a piano tuning business who refuses to wear his hearing aids -- plays mentor and father figure to Woodall's Nikki, a talented former pianist who had to stop playing because his oversensitive hearing makes any kind of loud noise impossible.
Alone on a tuning job one evening in a wealthy house, Nikki meets a gang of thieves who discover his incredible hearing means he can crack safes.
What starts out as a side-earner quickly degenerates, and Nikki is thrust into dangerous situations that jeopardise his burgeoning relationship with a gifted composition student, played by Havana Rose Liu.
Roher said the process of making a feature film had been fascinating, not least because after years in documentary, he was suddenly working with actors.
"Everything they do is just bizarre, but interesting and fascinating," he said. "I have tremendous respect for them, for their abilities, for the way that they operate. But I don't understand it."
Working with a veteran like Hoffman, whom he called a "legend" of the screen, however, helped put him at ease.
"He treated me like it was 1968, I was Mike Nichols, and we were shooting (Hoffman's breakout film) 'The Graduate'.
"He called me sir. He called me boss. And he just loved being there."

Rescue

Elsewhere at Sundance on Thursday, filmgoers got their first look at "Hanging By A Wire."
Director Mohammed Ali Naqvi's pacey documentary tells the real life story of the rescue of Pakistani schoolboys stranded hundreds of feet above a Himalayan valley in a rusting cable car when wires snap.
Told largely through footage filmed by the hundreds of terrified villagers who gathered below, the film showcases how the ubiquity of the cellphone and connections to social media affect the way that events unfold.
It is through grainy online footage that a local journalist first becomes aware of the drama. Her report, boosted by stunning drone footage provided by a local amateur, alerts the international media and galvanises a rescue response.
The military, police, a local zipline entrepreneur and a have-a-go hero are all involved in the pulse-racing rescue.
For Naqvi, the pacing and feel of the film needed to be as urgent and driving as if it were fiction.
"I love action thriller films from the '80s and 90s, and those are some of the films that have inspired us to make this," Naqvi told a Sundance audience.
Other highlights of the opening day included debut director Louis Paxton's dark comedy "The Incomer," which is infused with Scottish folklore.
Domhnall Gleeson ("Harry Potter") plays the man from the council sent to evict oddball islanders, Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O'Rourke).
Inevitably, he is sucked in to the weird island life, in a film that explores loneliness and fitting in.
Sundance runs until February 1.
hg/lga/cms

entertainment

NYC sues to block Dr. Phil-fronted police TV show

  • Dr. Phil is the stage name of Phil McGraw, who was made famous to daytime television audiences by Oprah Winfrey, who had him on her show, and went on to host his own long-running series as a tough-talking psychologist. 
  • New York City has sued to block a TV show about the police department fronted by celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil that local officials say is "extremely problematic."
  • Dr. Phil is the stage name of Phil McGraw, who was made famous to daytime television audiences by Oprah Winfrey, who had him on her show, and went on to host his own long-running series as a tough-talking psychologist. 
New York City has sued to block a TV show about the police department fronted by celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil that local officials say is "extremely problematic."
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the city argues episodes of "Behind the Badge," which was given the green light by former mayor Eric Adams, "pose an imminent threat to the life and safety of active NYPD officers." 
"For example, the faces, voices, and names of undercover officers conducting operations in plainclothes are not obscured," the complaint alleges.
"There are numerous other pieces of harmful footage that cannot be released to the public. For example, the identities of individuals in NYPD custody are depicted in the rough cuts without any blurring or redactions applied to their faces."
The city, now led by Democratic mayor Zohran Mamdani, is asking the court to prohibit the sale, distribution, or broadcast of the material, which a New York State Supreme Court judge temporarily granted on Wednesday.
"The  Production  company is disappointed that this lawsuit was filed without advance notice and an opportunity to respond to the request for a restraint on publication which the United States Constitution prohibits," said Chip Babcock, a lawyer for the TV show.
Dr. Phil is the stage name of Phil McGraw, who was made famous to daytime television audiences by Oprah Winfrey, who had him on her show, and went on to host his own long-running series as a tough-talking psychologist. 
Since his eponymous show was dropped from the network television, the 75-year-old has transitioned to other reality television ventures for his own channel.
Mamdani has sought to chart a starkly different course from his predecessor Adams, a flamboyant former police captain known for his idiosyncratic style and love of publicity.
On Friday, a judge will hold a hearing on the documentary that is produced by TV talkshow host Dr. Phil's son Jordan McGraw and his production company McGraw Media, court filings showed.
pel/gw/sla

film

'Sinners' breaks all-time Oscars record with 16 nominations

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • Recently appointed Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor opened the early-morning announcement in Los Angeles with a warning about the threat of artificial intelligence.
  • Vampire period horror film "Sinners" smashed the all-time Oscars record with 16 nominations, the Academy announced Thursday.
  • Recently appointed Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor opened the early-morning announcement in Los Angeles with a warning about the threat of artificial intelligence.
Vampire period horror film "Sinners" smashed the all-time Oscars record with 16 nominations, the Academy announced Thursday.
The blues-inflected race allegory from director Ryan Coogler scored nominations in nearly every category possible, including best picture.
In doing so, "Sinners" blasted past the previous record of 14, jointly held by "Titanic," "La La Land" and "All About Eve."
Coogler told industry website Deadline that the "pretty crazy" record haul of nominations was "so rewarding." 
A rare original Hollywood film that is not based on any existing franchise, "Sinners" was viewed with skepticism by many in the business before its April release, but became a $360 million global hit.
Coogler said he "did not have any expectations" for awards, adding that "people just showing up to the movies and having a good time, that would've been enough."
But its huge tally included a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan -- who plays twins returning home to the 1930s segregated US South -- plus nods for everything from screenplay to score.
There was also a nomination for best casting, the first new category to be added to Hollywood's most prestigious awards in more than two decades.
"One Battle After Another" came in second place with 13 nods including best picture, best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson.
But its female lead, 25-year-old newcomer Chase Infiniti, was surprisingly snubbed by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters.
Both of the top two nomination getters came from Warner Bros, the movie studio that is currently the target of a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount.
Guillermo del Toro's monster epic "Frankenstein," Timothee Chalamet's ping-pong drama "Marty Supreme" and Norwegian arthouse favorite "Sentimental Value" each bagged nine nominations.
"Hamnet," a period drama in which William Shakespeare and his wife struggle to cope with the loss of their son in plague-ravaged Elizabethan England, secured eight.
Jessie Buckley was nominated for playing the Bard's long-suffering wife Agnes, though the film's male lead Paul Mescal missed out.
"There's no part of Agnes that exists without Paul... and what he poured into this story," Buckley told The Hollywood Reporter after the announcement.

Acting races

The nominations set the stage for the 98th Oscars ceremony on March 15.
While "Sinners" tops the nominations, "One Battle" remains the frontrunner to win best picture, having won almost every precursor prize going so far this awards season.
The zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists broke the all-time record for nominations by Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild.
DiCaprio, Chalamet and Jordan will do battle for the best actor Oscar, along with Ethan Hawke for Broadway period drama "Blue Moon," and Wagner Moura from Brazilian political thriller "The Secret Agent."
For best actress, Buckley will compete with Emma Stone playing an alien -- or is she? -- in conspiracy theorist drama "Bugonia," Renate Reinsve in "Sentimental Value," Kate Hudson in quirky music biopic "Song Sung Blue," and Rose Byrne as a struggling mom in indie hit "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

International voters

With the Academy's overseas voter base rapidly expanding, both "Sentimental Value" and "The Secret Agent" were nominated for best picture.
But Persian-language Palme d'Or winner "It Was Just An Accident" missed out in the top category, and will compete for best international film, along with Spain's nomadic hippie odyssey "Sirat" and heart-wrenching Palestinian docudrama "The Voice of Hind Rajab."
Pop megastar Ariana Grande surprisingly missed out on a best supporting actress nomination for her portrayal of Glinda in "Wicked: For Good," which failed to pick up any nods.
Recently appointed Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor opened the early-morning announcement in Los Angeles with a warning about the threat of artificial intelligence.
"We live in a time of limitless technology that enables us to push the boundaries of our cinematic experience," she said.
"And our profound belief is that the heartbeat of film is and will always remain unmistakably human."
amz/sst

film

Basking in Oscar nod, Russian videographer ready for Hollywood

  • "I've already dusted off the shelf for it," he joked from Prague, where he lives in exile.
  • Pavel Talankin, a self-exiled Russian videographer behind an anti-propaganda documentary nominated for an Oscar, said Thursday he was ready to go to Hollywood and had "already dusted off the shelf" for a prize.
  • "I've already dusted off the shelf for it," he joked from Prague, where he lives in exile.
Pavel Talankin, a self-exiled Russian videographer behind an anti-propaganda documentary nominated for an Oscar, said Thursday he was ready to go to Hollywood and had "already dusted off the shelf" for a prize.
David Borenstein's "Mr Nobody Against Putin", based on footage smuggled by Talankin out of Russia, was nominated in the Documentary Feature Film category.
The film exposes the intensity of pro-war propaganda at a secondary school in a small Russian town.
Talankin, 34, told AFP it was hard to put in words how he felt, but he definitely wanted now to win the Academy Award.
"I've already dusted off the shelf for it," he joked from Prague, where he lives in exile.
"I'd like to go to Hollywood," he said. "I have a visa."
Talankin used to work as an event organiser and videographer at a secondary school in the industrial town of Karabash in the Ural mountains.
After teaming up with Borenstein on a project to document the abrupt militarisation of his school in the wake of Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour Ukraine, Talankin filmed patriotic lessons, songs and morning drills.
He then fled Russia with the hard discs of what would become the 90-minute award-winning documentary.
Russia outlawed all criticism of the Russian military after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
The project cost Talankin dearly, making him a hate figure in Russia for supporters of the war. He has left behind his mother, brothers and sisters.
Talankin said things were hard for him after he fled his native country.
But he added: "Of course it was all worth it."
When the film was shortlisted for the Oscars in December, Borenstein told AFP he was "shocked" and called the feeling "surreal".
He said Talankin "sacrificed so much to make this film and he deserves to make as big of an impact as possible".
The nominations set the stage for the 98th Academy Awards ceremony on March 15.
as/giv/jhb

fashion

Men's fashion turns to embroidery as guys want 'something different’

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • "There's a real trend for embroidery, particularly of Indian origin," he added.
  • Men's fashion is embracing embroidery and handcrafted textiles that were once viewed as old-fashioned or feminine, with a clutch of modern Indian brands poised to benefit from the catwalk and celeb-driven trend.
  • "There's a real trend for embroidery, particularly of Indian origin," he added.
Men's fashion is embracing embroidery and handcrafted textiles that were once viewed as old-fashioned or feminine, with a clutch of modern Indian brands poised to benefit from the catwalk and celeb-driven trend.
Embroidery is a historic mainstay of traditional clothing in Asia or the Middle East, as well as Western Haute Couture, but it is increasingly present in Paris, Milan or New York on modern men's shirts, bomber jackets or blazers. 
Designers at Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Kenzo or Gucci have adopted it in recent runway shows, while Louis Vuitton's celebrity rapper-designer Pharell Williams dedicated his entire June collection to India after visiting the country.
At Men's Fashion Week in Paris on Thursday, New Delhi-based Kartik Research put on its second show, having joined the world's most prestigious style calendar for the first time last year with its modern take on traditional fabrics and crafts.
"It's cool that we're building something that has this momentum and is being appreciated in the way that it is," founder Kartik Kumra told AFP in a pre-show interview. 
The 26-year-old, who opened a flagship store in New York last year and counts actor Paul Mescal and rapper Kendrick Lamar as past clients, likens showing in Paris to being a footballer in the European Champions League.
"Just to get there, it means you're doing something right. And then once you're there, you want to do well in it, and so it pushes you," he said.

'Gender fluid'

Rikki Kher, founder of fellow Delhi-based brand KARDO, says the taste for handwoven fabrics or intricate embroidery among men reflects both societal change and the industry's desire for novelty.
"Fashion is driven through music and young people, and young people are becoming more gender fluid," the boss of the label, which has championed hand-crafted artisanal textiles since 2013, told AFP.
Embroidery appears to be on the same route as handbags and jewellery, which have entered men's fashion in recent years and blurred the industry's traditional gender lines.
The enthusiasm also reflects a loss of interest in "workwear" or "quiet luxury", trends that have dominated menswear for years with their simple and often monochrome fabrics.
"Guys are looking for something different," explained Kher, who was showcasing his Fall/Winter collection in Paris during Fashion Week. "They're able to express themselves a bit more."
He said he recently spotted mass-market retailers Zara and Marks & Spencer selling embroidered shirts -- a sign that the trend has trickled down from catwalks to the high street. 
Other Indian brands helping modernise their country's craft traditions include 11.11/Eleven Eleven, Pero, Mii, or Rkive City. 

Searching for a story

Western buyers have also noted the changes.
"We're coming out of a few seasons that were more on the neutral side ... Now we want to revamp everything with patterns and colours," Franck Nauerz, head of menswear at Paris fashion stores Le Bon Marche and La Samaritaine.
"There's a real trend for embroidery, particularly of Indian origin," he added.
Carlan Pickings, who runs the PPHH fashion store in Melbourne, Australia, said she had seen demand and men's styles change radically over the last few years.
"Ten years ago, we'd never have believed that we'd now be buying things that were embroidered, colourful, floral," she told AFP in Paris, where she was meeting brands she works with during Fashion Week.
Her clients want "something interesting but that also has a story behind it."
"The changes we've seen in the last five years, particularly coming out of the Indian market, but also Japan, are really interesting," she added.
adp/cc

politics

Macron squares up to Trump in rebel shades at macho Davos gathering

  • "Top Gun or Terminator?"
  • Top Gun or Terminator?
  • "Top Gun or Terminator?"
Top Gun or Terminator? French President Emmanuel Macron's sporting of aviator shades at Davos this week tickled the press and inspired viral memes online, while prompting a surge in visitors to the eyewear brand's website.
Macron, speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, wore sunglasses on stage due to a broken blood vessel that has left him with a bloodshot eye since last week, according to the Elysee's chief physician.
While the French president stood up for European sovereignty and blasted "unacceptable" threats by his US counterpart Donald Trump to impose tariffs on countries opposed to his plans to seize Greenland, it was Macron's flashy blue sunglasses that grabbed much of the attention.
"Top Gun or Terminator?", read a headline in Le Parisien daily, highlighting the viral commentary which ranged from memes photoshopping laser beams shooting from Macron's eyes to his face on the "Miami Vice" film poster.
Other images on social media showed Macron playing the rebel Maverick from the Top Gun franchise, while facing off to Trump.
"These sunglasses were unintentionally a very fitting visual vocabulary for the message he wanted to convey," said communications professor Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet at Paris's Sciences Po university.
"It gave a Hollywood-style dimension -- cool and masculine at once -- that answered Trump."
Trump mocked the look, stating: "I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?"
"But I watched him sort of be tough," Trump added, after Macron said France rejected "bullies".
The UK's Telegraph newspaper published the headline "Can Macron's sunglasses save the West?" in an analysis of the heated and divisive tone taken by largely male world leaders at the summit.
"Testosterone is the primary currency in Davos this year, and the French president's aviators have placed him at the top of the pecking order," the Telegraph wrote.
The hype surrounding Macron's look led to a surge in traffic to the French eyewear maker Henry Jullien's website, causing it to crash.
"Our eShop website is experiencing an exceptional volume of visits and enquiries" following the "significant visibility" given to the sunglasses by Macron, said a notice on the brand's website.
It added that it had launched a "temporary page" featuring solely the 'Pacific' model worn by Macron, "to ensure stable and secure access for everyone".
bur-giv/ah/rlp

film

Ariana snubbed and Chalamet supreme? Five Oscars takeaways

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • - Records tumble - Sixteen nominations for "Sinners" was not the only record broken at Thursday's announcement.
  • "Sinners" set a new Oscars record with 16 nominations on Thursday, but that was not the only surprise from the Academy's announcement.
  • - Records tumble - Sixteen nominations for "Sinners" was not the only record broken at Thursday's announcement.
"Sinners" set a new Oscars record with 16 nominations on Thursday, but that was not the only surprise from the Academy's announcement.
Here are five takeaways from this year's Oscars nominations, ahead of the March 15 gala:

Snubs and surprises

Every year, the Oscars nominations bring hand-wringing over the names that were not read out.
This year's highest-profile "snub" was Ariana Grande. 
The pop sensation had earned a best supporting nod last year for the first "Wicked" film, but missed out this year despite taking a more prominent role in the Broadway adaptation's second chapter.
Indeed, there was no love at all for "Wicked: For Good," which failed to earn any nominations -- despite the first movie landing 10 nods, and winning two Oscars.
Other notable omissions this year included "One Battle After Another" female star Chase Infiniti, and "Hamnet" male lead Paul Mescal.
Among the surprises were supporting acting nominations for veteran Delroy Lindo ("Sinners") and Elle Fanning in Norwegian dramedy "Sentimental Value."

Warner swansong?

It is a rare feat for a single Hollywood studio to boast the two clear Oscar frontrunners.
With "Sinners" (16 nominations) and "One Battle After Another" (13), Warner Bros has pulled that off. 
The studio has recently backed original fare from auteur filmmakers -- like Zach Cregger's horror hit "Weapons" (one nomination) and Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17" -- along with more commercial hits like "Superman" and "A Minecraft Movie."
Ironically, that success comes in what could be the century-old studio's swansong year as an independent distributor.
Warner Bros is the target of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.

Records tumble

Sixteen nominations for "Sinners" was not the only record broken at Thursday's announcement.
In a sign of the increasingly global outlook of Oscars voters, a record four non-English-language acting performances are nominated this year.
That includes three Norwegian actors from "Sentimental Value" -- Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas -- and Brazil's Wagner Moura, the star of "The Secret Agent."
Meanwhile, "Hamnet" director Chloe Zhao became only the second woman to achieve multiple directing nominations, after Jane Campion. Zhao previously won the category with her best picture winner "Nomadland."

Best casting

This year, the Oscars introduced a prize for best casting -- the Academy's first new category since the animated film award was created in 2002.
With no precedent, it was unclear what exactly voters would be looking for -- star power, new discoveries, or a cohesive ensemble.
In the end, the category mostly mirrored the expected best picture frontrunners, with nominations going to "Hamnet," "Marty Supreme," "One Battle after Another," "The Secret Agent" and "Sinners." 

Chalamet supreme

Timothee Chalamet is only 30, yet his Oscar nomination for "Marty Supreme" is his third for best actor -- after "Call Me By Your Name" in 2018 and last year for playing Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown."
Arguably the biggest star of his generation, Chalamet also earned a nod for his role as a producer in best picture nominee "Marty Supreme," the semi-fictional tale of a talented, always-hustling ping-pong player in 1950s New York and Japan.
Will it be third time lucky for Chalamet, at the Oscars ceremony in March?
Though up against Leonardo DiCaprio, Chalamet's chances are boosted by a strong all-round showing for "Marty Supreme" at Thursday's nominations announcement.
The movie exceeded most pundits' expectations with nine nods, including best director for Josh Safdie, best cinematography and best production design -- suggesting Oscars voters are paying close attention.
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