festival

Impact of Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays out on screen in Berlin

BY JASTINDER KHERA

  • On screen, one of the films dealing with the global ramifications of the conflict -- past and present -- is the documentary "Who Killed Alex Odeh?"
  • This year's Berlin Film Festival has seen controversy raging off-screen over the Gaza war, with some of the works being shown also grappling with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its global impact.
  • On screen, one of the films dealing with the global ramifications of the conflict -- past and present -- is the documentary "Who Killed Alex Odeh?"
This year's Berlin Film Festival has seen controversy raging off-screen over the Gaza war, with some of the works being shown also grappling with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its global impact.
Gaza has been a point of heated debate since the first day of the festival, when jury president Wim Wenders answered a question about the German government's support for Israel by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."
That sparked a backlash from figures including Arundhati Roy, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle has defended Wenders and denied accusations that the festival has engaged in censorship.
On screen, one of the films dealing with the global ramifications of the conflict -- past and present -- is the documentary "Who Killed Alex Odeh?"
Directed by Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans, the film looks at the aftermath of the killing of the Palestinian-American activist of the title.
Odeh was the West Coast regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and was killed in a bomb attack at the ADC's offices in Santa Ana, California in 1985. 
Among the film's wealth of archive footage is testimony to a congressional committee from Oliver Revell, then FBI assistant director, who said "members of a Jewish extremist element" were likely responsible.
Odeh's widow and daughter also speak movingly about the killing's impact on their lives.
No one has ever been convicted for the bombing.
The film traces how suspicion fell in particular on several members of the Jewish Defense League, a group founded by extremist rabbi Meir Kahane before his own assassination in 1990.
Youmans told AFP that despite dealing with an event from more than 40 years ago, the film took on "a burning kind of urgency" given the influence that Kahane's ideology has gained in Israel in recent years.
The current far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir previously campaigned for Kahane's now-banned political party, Kach, and became notorious for his anti-Arab rhetoric.
Did Youmans himself have any qualms about coming to Berlin, given the controversy around the festival?
"I feel that Alex's story is a necessary one to be told," Youmans said, adding it would be "self-defeatist" not to show it at the festival.
As for the response from German audiences, he said he has found that there is "a public opinion here... that is more willing to question unconditional support for Israel, is more willing to show solidarity with the Palestinians".

'Rare' collaboration

In "Where To?" by Israeli director Assaf Machnes, the conflict remains off screen but makes its presence felt.
It follows 55-year-old Palestinian cab driver Hassan, played with warmth and subtlety by Ehab Salami, as he ferries passengers through the nocturnal streets of Berlin.
He strikes up an unlikely bond with Israeli passenger Amir, a lost soul in his early 20s played by Ido Tako, which leads Hassan to reflect on roads not taken in his own life.
Salami is himself a Palestinian who lives in Israel and Machnes says that the film represents a collaboration which is "very, very rare" in Israeli cinema.
"Actors that were auditioning for (Hassan's) role were very thirsty for a role like that," Machnes told AFP.
He said that the film was partially inspired by his own chance meeting with a Palestinian cab driver in Berlin.
"It was different than the usual encounters I have with my Palestinian artist friends; there was this unbinding connection, because we don't know if we're going to see each other" again, he said.
While Machnes says he does not think of his own work as inherently political, he wryly observes that "in Israel, if you film a cat drinking milk, it's political".
While recognising that "we all live in a political context", Machnes told AFP he tries in his work to avoid any "intention to preach".
If the film does have a message, it is about the possibility of empathy in even the most difficult situations.
Salami said he hoped the government in Israel would heed the film's example to "make the way for peace... and something different".
jsk/fz/gv

film

Political drama overshadows Berlin Film Festival finale

BY ANTOINE GUY

  • - Films overshadowed - The letter, drafted by the Film Workers for Palestine collective, accused the Berlinale of being involved in "censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state's key role in enabling it". 
  • The 76th Berlin Film Festival draws to a close on Saturday after 10 days in which the 22 films in competition were often overshadowed by a row over the role politics should play in filmmaking.
  • - Films overshadowed - The letter, drafted by the Film Workers for Palestine collective, accused the Berlinale of being involved in "censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state's key role in enabling it". 
The 76th Berlin Film Festival draws to a close on Saturday after 10 days in which the 22 films in competition were often overshadowed by a row over the role politics should play in filmmaking.
The controversy erupted at the beginning of the festival when jury president Wim Wenders answered a question about the German government's support for Israel by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."
At the same press conference he had earlier said that films had the power to "change the world" but in a different way from party politics.
"No movie has ever changed the ideas of a politician, but we can change the idea that people have of how they should live," Wenders, 80, said. 
But his comments in response to the question on Israel prompted a storm of outrage.
Award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, who had been due to present a restored version of a 1989 film she wrote, pulled out of the event, branding Wender's words "unconscionable" and "jaw-dropping".
On Tuesday, a letter signed by dozens of film industry figures, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay, condemned the Berlin festival's "silence on the genocide of Palestinians".

Films overshadowed

The letter, drafted by the Film Workers for Palestine collective, accused the Berlinale of being involved in "censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state's key role in enabling it". 
Director Tricia Tuttle, in her second year at the helm of the Berlinale, has firmly rejected the accusations, describing some of the claims in the letter as "misinformation" and "inaccurate". 
She called for "cool heads in hot times" and expressed fears that the controversy was crowding out conversation about the films.
Among the standout entries in the official competition was "We Are All Strangers" by Anthony Chen.
Set in Chen's native Singapore, the film is a moving family drama which playfully satirises the yawning social disparities to be found in the city-state's glittering skyscrapers.
German actress Sandra Hueller, who gained international acclaim for her roles in "The Zone of Interest" and "Anatomy of a Fall", received audience plaudits for her turn as the title character in "Rose" by Austrian director Markus Schleinzer.
The black-and-white drama tells the story of a woman passing herself off as a man in rural 17th-century Germany to escape the constraints of patriarchy. 

Repression in Iran

Juliette Binoche, playing a woman caring for her mother with dementia, also moved cinemagoers in "Queen at Sea" by American director Lance Hammer, who had not made a feature film since 2008.
Sensitively, the film portrays the devastation Alzheimer's disease inflicts on a patient's loved ones. 
"My husband's got dementia, so I have had a lot of background," a visibly moved actress Anna Calder-Marshall, who plays the ailing mother in the film, told a press conference.
The first major event of the film calendar also provided a platform for Iranian filmmakers to address the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in their home country.
Director Mahnaz Mohammadi, who has spent time in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, presented "Roya", a searing portrayal of conditions in the jail and the traces they leave on prisoners' psyches.
Dissident director Jafar Panahi, who won the Cannes Palme d'Or for "It Was Just An Accident", also spoke from the Berlinale to denounce the Iranian government's repression of protestors, which international organisations say has left thousands dead.
"An unbelievable crime has happened. Mass murder has happened. People are not even allowed to mourn their loved ones," Panahi told a talk organised as part of the festival. 
"People do not want violence. They avoid violence. It is the regime that forces violence upon them," Panahi said.
In December he was sentenced to one year in prison and a travel ban in Iran but has expressed his intention to return nevertheless.
agu-jsk/tw

music

'Boldly headbang': Star Trek's Shatner, 94, unveils metal album

  • The metal voyage begins this year." bjt/nro
  • "Star Trek" legend William Shatner is boldly going where few 94-year-olds have gone before, as the Canadian actor announced plans to release a heavy metal album.
  • The metal voyage begins this year." bjt/nro
"Star Trek" legend William Shatner is boldly going where few 94-year-olds have gone before, as the Canadian actor announced plans to release a heavy metal album.
"I have explored space. 
I have explored time. 
Now... I explore distortion," Shatner wrote on social media late Thursday alongside a picture of himself cradling an electric guitar in front of a red, smoky backdrop.
"Thirty-five metal virtuosos. Thunderous guitars. Chaos with purpose," he said.
The cult star promised covers of metal staples like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, as well as "a few originals forged in the same cosmic fire."
Shatner played the daring Captain James T. Kirk in 1960s sci-fi adventure franchise "Star Trek," which follows the crew of a spaceship as it spreads liberal humanitarian ideals through the galaxy.
He also portrayed the titular character in cop show "TJ Hooker," and won both a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy for his role on "Boston Legal."
In 2021, he became the then oldest person ever to go to space when he traveled aboard a Blue Origin craft at age 90. 
Revealing his new album, Shatner showed no intentions of taking it easy. 
"Honest intensity. Unapologetic exploration. At 94, one does not slow down. One turns the volume up," he said.
"So prepare yourselves. 
We are about to boldly headbang where no one has headbanged before. Stay tuned. The metal voyage begins this year."
bjt/nro

Scream

I never thought it would be hit, says 'Scream' creator 30 years later

BY ANTOINE GUY AND ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • I was just trying to write a script to get noticed by Hollywood so that I get hired to write another movie," he told AFP. "And I just wrote what I love: I love horror films," he added.
  • When he sat down to write the first "Scream" film which appeared in cinemas exactly 30 years ago, horror movies were out of fashion and aspiring Hollywood creative Kevin Williamson had low expectations.
  • I was just trying to write a script to get noticed by Hollywood so that I get hired to write another movie," he told AFP. "And I just wrote what I love: I love horror films," he added.
When he sat down to write the first "Scream" film which appeared in cinemas exactly 30 years ago, horror movies were out of fashion and aspiring Hollywood creative Kevin Williamson had low expectations.
"I never thought it would be a hit actually. I was just trying to get a job. I was just trying to write a script to get noticed by Hollywood so that I get hired to write another movie," he told AFP.
"And I just wrote what I love: I love horror films," he added.
When "Scream" came out in 1996, directed by Wes Craven, it sparked a host of copycat slasher movies and has gone on to become one of the most successful horror franchises in the history of cinema. 
The white mask of the Ghostface killer has become a pop culture reference. 
The opening scene -- featuring its signature mix of fear and dark humour with Drew Barrymore, the film's biggest star who is killed within 12 minutes -- is considered by many as one of the most memorable openings in the whole genre. 
Williamson, who is directing "Scream 7" which comes out this week after a hugely troubled lead-up, took his original inspiration from a real-life serial killer who murdered four students in Florida in 1990.
"I just got so scared that I spawned the show," he explained.
Craven, who also made the cult "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, died in 2015 after working on four Scream films with Williamson.
"When Wes passed, I had sort of said goodbye to the franchise, and thinking it was over for me," Williamson told AFP. "And then when they brought me back into the fold, I got excited again."
- Abuse - 
The Scream franchise has been hugely profitable over its three decades, with the exception of Scream 4, grossing an estimated billion dollars or more in total at the box office, according to industry figures.
Williamson was executive producer on the fifth and sixth instalments but is a director for the first time for Scream 7 which became embroiled in a very public off-screen row about the war in Gaza.
Lead actress Melissa Barrera was fired for criticising Israel's devastating bombardment of Gaza, co-star Jenna Ortega walked out, and original director Christopher Landon quit over the ensuing furore.
"The amount of abuse that I had to deal with -- I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that," Landon told Vanity Fair of his decision last year, saying he had been wrongly blamed for the decision to fire Barrera.
Scream 7, stylised as Scream VII, has not been shown to critics and releases in most countries around the world over the next week, landing at a time when horror movies are back in vogue.
"Sinners" and "Weapons" -- both of which Williamson praised -- were some of last year's buzziest hits.
"The horror genre is so cyclical," Williamson added. "We go through cycles and it's usually connected to what's going on in the world. Horror has always been a mirror to society."

Gaza row

Scream 7 sees the return of Canadian actress Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott after she opted out of the previous instalment due to a salary dispute. 
Campbell believed she had been offered pay that was below what a male actor of her status would command.
But that was nothing compared to the casting problems for Scream 7.
Mexican lead actress Barrera fell afoul of the film's Hollywood producers Spyglass in November 2023 after criticising Israel's "genocide and ethnic cleansing" of encircled Gaza which she likened to a "concentration camp".
Spyglass sacked her, declaring that they had "zero tolerance for antisemitism" and "false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion".
UN experts have since concluded Israel's war amounted to "genocide".
"Wednesday" star Ortega, who played opposite Barrera as one of the Carpenter sisters, left the production in solidarity.
Scream 7 is set to focus on Sidney Prescott as she builds a new life for herself in a small Indiana town -- until Ghostface turns up and begins targeting her daughter (Isabel May).
"There's a wonderful relationship between the mother and daughter, and we really tried to zero in on the emotional horror, like to really make you feel it," Williamson said. 
agu-adp/rmb

fashion

UK king opens London fashion week despite brother's arrest

BY CAROLINE TAIX

  • Coker, whose show the king attended, launched her brand in 2018.
  • London Fashion Week launched on Thursday with a rare visit from King Charles III only hours after his brother Andrew's sensational arrest, overshadowing an event traditionally focused on highlighting new talent.
  • Coker, whose show the king attended, launched her brand in 2018.
London Fashion Week launched on Thursday with a rare visit from King Charles III only hours after his brother Andrew's sensational arrest, overshadowing an event traditionally focused on highlighting new talent.
The king surprised crowds when his car pulled up outside a show by British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker -- on a day when headlines were dominated by the former prince Andrew's arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office for his dealings with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The king was met by a question about Andrew from the crowd, which he appeared not to hear.
After shaking hands and greeting industry leaders and designers, Charles took a front-row seat between British Fashion Council chief executive officer Laura Weir and top UK designer Stella McCartney.
It was one of several public duties the king carried out on Thursday, apparently seeking to project an air of business-as-usual.
The monarch, dressed suavely in a grey suit with turned-up hems, presented McCartney with a scarf after touring stands of clothes showcasing various designers.
One of the designers showing in the coming days is 27-year-old Joshua Ewusie, a breakout British creator born to Ghanaian parents who is due to put on his second show with his brand "E.W.Usie".
The young designer has been supported by the King's Foundation, a charity founded by Charles, helping to provide a studio space shortly after he graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school. One of the foundation's partners is Chanel.

Royal flavour

London Fashion Week (LFW) is better known for nurturing new talent than big-name shows, and Ewusie epitomises the event's ability to give a platform to rising stars.
His hometown London, which boasts several fashion schools, provides "great support for young designers," Ewusie told AFP ahead of his LFW presentation on Sunday.
"There are so many opportunities, I think, that London gives to help young brands start," he added.
Coker, whose show the king attended, launched her brand in 2018.
Her catwalk, which featured elegant, mainly unisex designs inspired by diverse identities, highlighted "craftsmanship, sustainability and the creative industries", fashion week organisers said in a statement.
The king's presence, they added, reinforced "British fashion's place on the world stage".
Not far away, at the Waldorf Hotel a tribute was held to one of Fashion Week's stalwarts, Paul Costelloe, who died in November aged 80.
The Irish-American's romantic, sartorial catwalks were a regular fixture on the opening day of the London fashion week since the inception of the show in 1984.
His son William Costelloe is now the creative director of the brand, which wrote on social media ahead of its LFW Autumn/Winter 2026 opening show: "A new season. A powerful moment. A legacy moving forward."
Other notable names including Harris Reed and Richard Quinn are returning to the catwalk in London, with Burberry closing the week in its usual fashion on Monday evening.
Other labels will bring a royal flavour to the runway, with brands worn by Princess Catherine including Emilia Wickstead, Edeline Lee and Erdem putting on shows.

Fashion incubator

However, there will be no show from the breakout Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, who was one of the most eagerly awaited at London Fashion Week in recent seasons.
The 41-year-old took over at Dior last June, leaving little time for his own brand, JW Anderson, which he founded in 2008.
For several years, London has been losing ground to rivals in Paris and Milan, but it has clung onto its role as a breeding ground for young talent.
The British Fashion Council's NewGen initiative provides funding for emerging talent, with several up-and-coming designers finding their stride at LFW through the incubator.
ctx-aks/jkb/jhb

music

Bosnia probes fascist salutes at Croatian singer's concert

  • The national prosecutors' office confirmed to AFP Thursday that it had received several complaints regarding the concert as well as a video recording.
  • Bosnian prosecutors said Thursday they were investigating reports of fans performing fascist salutes at a concert by an ultra-nationalist Croatian singer.
  • The national prosecutors' office confirmed to AFP Thursday that it had received several complaints regarding the concert as well as a video recording.
Bosnian prosecutors said Thursday they were investigating reports of fans performing fascist salutes at a concert by an ultra-nationalist Croatian singer.
Videos emerged over the weekend from a concert by Croatian folk-rock singer Marko Perkovic, better known as Thompson, showing dozens of people in the crowd raising their right arms and chanting the slogan of the Ustasha -- Croatia's Nazi-aligned World  War II regime.
The footage from a show in the Croat-majority south, which AFP has not been able to verify, triggered widespread condemnation inside Bosnia, including from European Union representatives and the Israeli ambassador.
The national prosecutors' office confirmed to AFP Thursday that it had received several complaints regarding the concert as well as a video recording.
Perkovic is banned from performing on stage in some European countries. But the 59-year-old singer is hugely popular in Croatia, with a concert in Zagreb last year drawing hundreds of thousands of fans.
He has long been accused of fascist sympathies, with one of his songs featuring the slogan of the Ustasha, while far-right symbols are often spotted among his concertgoers.
The Ustasha killed and persecuted hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Croats and Roma during World War II.
The footage was recorded at a concert late last week in Bosnia's southern Siroki Brijeg region, according to local media.
Bosnian Serb political leaders called for Perkovic to be banned from the country after the performance, while international representatives urged action from authorities.
"The glorification and trivialisation of fascist ideologies have no place in a democratic society," Bosnia's EU delegation said.
The Bosnian missions of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe also issued a joint statement expressing "concern" over the footage.
But in a response on Perkovic's Facebook page, the singer's management said he never performed the salute during his concert and rejected accusations of encouraging fascism.
"Thompson has never glorified, and will never glorify, Nazism or fascism," it said.
rs/al/fg

horror

Horror comics boom in our age of anxiety

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • Subsequent works "The House on the Lake" or "The Department of Truth" have tackled human survival and conspiracy theories, helping turn Tynion into one of the top-selling independent American comics creators across all genres.
  • Horror sells right now.
  • Subsequent works "The House on the Lake" or "The Department of Truth" have tackled human survival and conspiracy theories, helping turn Tynion into one of the top-selling independent American comics creators across all genres.
Horror sells right now. Having swept the film, television and video game industries, it is also a winning formula in the world of comics. Just ask James Tynion IV.
The New York-based writer sold around five million copies of his "Something is Killing the Children" series, which first appeared in 2019.
It follows Erica Slaughter, a mysterious woman with a stuffed octopus, who can see the invisible monsters that have been murdering children in a small American town.
Subsequent works "The House on the Lake" or "The Department of Truth" have tackled human survival and conspiracy theories, helping turn Tynion into one of the top-selling independent American comics creators across all genres.
"Horror allows you to talk about what you're afraid about in society, and what you're afraid about in yourself, and you get to dial it up to all of these extremes," he told AFP in an interview in Paris.
According to the affable 38-year-old, ultra-violent or supernatural stories -- from Netflix's "Stranger Things" to gaming favourite "Resident Evil" -- work as a sort of pressure valve.
But they also hold up a reassuring mirror, helping make real-life fears seem somehow less frightening.
"The benefit of the horror genre is that there are stories in which there are actual monsters. The things that are wrong in society are crystallised into these personas that then you get to see wreak havoc or get their comeuppance," he said.
"There's something very cathartic in engaging in horror. It's been like this in previous decades: when the world is more frightening, horror as a genre does better," he added.
The popularity of horror and crime comics in the post-war 1950s -- and outrage from politicians -- led to American publishers agreeing to the Comics Code Authority, which effectively banned the genre until the 1970s and 80s.

'Rules out the window'

Societal problems are very much on Tynion's mind in his latest book, "Exquisite Corpses", which has sold 500,000 copies since its release in the United States last year.
The final chapter will be published in the United States in May, while the first French-language versions appeared earlier this month.
Created with Canadian visual artist Michael Walsh, the series imagines a dystopian world in which the 13 richest families in America organise a fight-to-the-death each year in a different town to decide who gets to rule the country.
Instead of battling personally, they each choose a fighter for a tournament which sees their mass murderers and psychopaths unleashed into the terrified local population.
Tyranny, oligarchy and a breakdown in law and order -- Tynion admits that contemporary America was very much on his mind when he, Walsh and a group of four other writers sat down to map out the initial 13-book series.
"I mean, it's hard for it not to be top of mind right now," he said, adding that most of his work was rooted in modern political and societal issues.
"Exquisite Corpses" is specifically about "what happens when the rules go out the window and you have immense bullies and people who are just in it for themselves. What happens over and over again is that people get caught in the crossfire," he said.
As well as drawing inspiration from series such as "The Hunger Games" or "Squid Game", it is rendered in bright and cold colours that give it a feel of the hit shooter video game "Fortnite".
"I think a lot of American horror comics are quite dreary in terms of their aesthetic," Walsh said.

Multi-media

Tynion previously worked at DC Comics, which owns the Batman and Superman superhero franchises that are the bedrock of the American comics industry, alongside Marvel characters such as Spider-Man and Captain America.
The success of Tynion's Tiny Onion studio has seen film and TV companies beat a path to his door, with "Something is Killing the Children" being developed by US horror film specialist Blumhouse.
He is also franchising his intellectual property, creating other products such as a card game inspired by "Exquisite Corpses" while holding talks with video game developers.
When he left DC Comics in 2021, Tynion was swapping the security and prestige of being in charge of the monthly Batman story for the uncertainty of life as an independent creator.
"I realised I needed to redirect all of my efforts to just focusing on my own original worlds," he told AFP. "I'm very happy I made that decision."
adp/tgb/jhb

politics

U2 slam ICE, Putin in new 'Days of Ash' EP

  • "Yours Eternally" is a collaboration with Sheeran and Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier.
  • Irish rockers U2 released their first collection of new songs in nearly a decade on Wednesday, featuring a collaboration with singer Ed Sheeran and a Ukrainian musician and soldier.
  • "Yours Eternally" is a collaboration with Sheeran and Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier.
Irish rockers U2 released their first collection of new songs in nearly a decade on Wednesday, featuring a collaboration with singer Ed Sheeran and a Ukrainian musician and soldier.
The standalone "Days of Ash" EP is "an immediate response to current events and inspired by the many extraordinary and courageous people fighting on the frontlines of freedom", according to the band's website.
"These EP tracks couldn't wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay," frontman Bono said in a statement.
"Yours Eternally" is a collaboration with Sheeran and Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian musician-turned-soldier.
"Ask anyone in East Germany or Poland or Latvia if they think Putin will stop at Ukraine," Bono told "Propaganda", the band's fan magazine.
The EP also sees the band pay tribute to Renee Good, an American woman who was shot dead by a federal agent as she protested against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in January.
In the opening track "American Obituary", Bono sings: "Renee Good born to die free."
The band said they would release a new album later this year.
Formed in the 1970s, U2 became one of the world's most prominent rock bands through hits like "With or Without You" and their vocal human rights campaigning.
Bono, 65, is well-known for his activism to eradicate poverty and fight AIDS, and has been outspoken against wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza in recent years.
"Song of the Future" honours a teenage girl who died while protesting in Iran in 2022, while "One Life at a Time" criticises Israeli settler activity in the occupied West Bank.
The latest EP builds on U2's 2017 album "Songs of Experience", which included tracks urging activism and tolerance, released after Donald Trump's first election as US president.
aks/sbk

BadBunny

Bad Bunny to star in movie about Puerto Rico

  • A week later, he delivered his Super Bowl halftime show, the most-watched musical performance in the world with over 120 million viewers, in which he celebrated the rhythms, colors, flavors, and traditions of Puerto Rico. 
  • Fresh from his success at the Grammys and a triumphant Super Bowl halftime show, Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny is set to take the lead role in an all-star film, producers announced Wednesday.
  • A week later, he delivered his Super Bowl halftime show, the most-watched musical performance in the world with over 120 million viewers, in which he celebrated the rhythms, colors, flavors, and traditions of Puerto Rico. 
Fresh from his success at the Grammys and a triumphant Super Bowl halftime show, Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny is set to take the lead role in an all-star film, producers announced Wednesday.
"Porto Rico," which will be directed by Grammy-winning rapper Rene "Residente" Perez Joglar, is described as a cross between a Caribbean western and a historical drama about the island both men call home.
The film will also feature stars such as Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem, and Edward Norton, and will be produced by Academy Award winner Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. 
"Porto Rico" tells the story of Jose Maldonado Roman, known as "Aguila Blanca" (White Eagle), a revolutionary who fought against colonialism in the late 19th century. 
"I have dreamed of making a film about my country since I was a child," said Perez Joglar. 
"Puerto Rico's true history has always been surrounded by controversy.
"This film is a reaffirmation of who we are -- told with the intensity and honesty that our history deserves."
The film fuses "historical scope with a visceral, lyrical approach and a gripping narrative inspired by true events," a statement added. 
The rapper and founder of Calle 13 posted a carousel of historical photos and thanked the team accompanying him on the film project, which will center on Bad Bunny.
The 31-year-old reggaeton artist is on an unstoppable streak. 
At the beginning of February, he won three Grammys with his acclaimed "DeBI Tirar Mas Fotos," which was crowned album of the year, a first for an all-Spanish language offering. 
A week later, he delivered his Super Bowl halftime show, the most-watched musical performance in the world with over 120 million viewers, in which he celebrated the rhythms, colors, flavors, and traditions of Puerto Rico. 
While many people acclaimed the joyous performance, President Donald Trump griped that he could not understand what was being said because it was in Spanish.
The performer, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio had already ventured into film with minor roles in movies like "Bullet Train," alongside Brad Pitt, and "Caught Stealing," with Austin Butler.
But "Porto Rico" will mark another milestone in the career of the most popular performer on the planet.
Residente, also an actor and producer, said he had been looking for someone to lead his directorial debut who "feels Puerto Rico as deeply as I do and who is as proud as I am when they sing our true anthem." 
Edward Norton, who also produces, highlighted the potential of the Residente-Bad Bunny duo. 
"Everybody knows what a poet of language and rhythm Rene is. Now they're going to see what a visual visionary he is as well," said Norton, who recently appeared in Olivia Wilde's "The Invite" which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
"Bringing him and Bad Bunny together to tell the true story of Puerto Rico's roots is going to be like a flame finding the stick of dynamite that's been waiting for it."
hg/jgc/msp

film

Berlin Film Festival rejects accusation of censorship on Gaza

  • In an open letter published on Tuesday, Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton were among dozens who criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the issue and said they were "dismayed" at its "involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza".
  • The director of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday rejected accusations from more than 80 film industry figures that the festival had helped censor artists who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.
  • In an open letter published on Tuesday, Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton were among dozens who criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the issue and said they were "dismayed" at its "involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza".
The director of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday rejected accusations from more than 80 film industry figures that the festival had helped censor artists who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.
In an open letter published on Tuesday, Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton were among dozens who criticised the Berlinale's "silence" on the issue and said they were "dismayed" at its "involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza".
In an interview with Screen Daily, the Berlinale's director, Tricia Tuttle, said the festival backs "free speech within the bounds of German law".
She said she recognised that the letter came from "the depth of anger and frustration about the suffering of people in Gaza".
However, she rejected accusations of censorship, saying that the letter contained "misinformation" and "inaccurate claims about the Berlinale" made without evidence or anonymously.
The row over Gaza has dogged this year's edition of the festival since jury president Wim Wenders answered a question on the conflict by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."
The comments prompted award-winning novelist Arundhati Roy, who had been due to present a restored version of a film she wrote, to withdraw from the festival.
Tuttle said the festival represents "lots of people who have different views, including lots of people who live in Germany who want a more complex understanding of Israel's positionality than maybe the rest of the world has right now".
German politicians have been largely supportive of Israel as Germany seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust.
However, German public opinion has been more critical of Israeli actions in Gaza.
Commenting on the row to the Welt TV channel, German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer defended Wenders and Tuttle from criticism, saying they were running the festival "in a very balanced way, very sensitively".
"Artists should not be told what to do when it comes to politics. The Berlinale is not an NGO with a camera and directors," Weimer said.
Gaza has frequently been a topic of controversy at the Berlinale in recent years.
In 2024, the festival's documentary award went to "No Other Land", which follows the dispossession of Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 
German government officials criticised "one-sided" remarks about Gaza by the directors of that film and others at that year's awards ceremony.
pyv-jsk/jhb

US

Taylor Swift bags best-selling artist of 2025 award: industry body

  • The body, which represents the recorded music industry worldwide, noted Swift had now won its top annual artist prize as many times as all other artists combined over the past 10 years.
  • US pop star Taylor Swift was crowned the biggest-selling global artist of 2025, industry body IFPI announced Wednesday, the fourth consecutive year and sixth time she has claimed its annual prize.
  • The body, which represents the recorded music industry worldwide, noted Swift had now won its top annual artist prize as many times as all other artists combined over the past 10 years.
US pop star Taylor Swift was crowned the biggest-selling global artist of 2025, industry body IFPI announced Wednesday, the fourth consecutive year and sixth time she has claimed its annual prize.
The 36-year-old's success was turbo-charged by the October release of her latest album, "The Life of a Showgirl", which set several streaming records, as well as the release of a docuseries about her record-breaking The Eras tour.
"2025 was another landmark year (for Swift), driven by exceptional worldwide engagement across streaming, physical and digital formats with the release of her 12th album ... and the documentary of her tour," IFPI said.
The body, which represents the recorded music industry worldwide, noted Swift had now won its top annual artist prize as many times as all other artists combined over the past 10 years.
IFPI hands out the Global Artist of the Year Award after calculating an artist's or group's worldwide sales across streaming, downloads and physical music formats during the calendar year and covers their entire body of work.  
Swift beat out Korean group Stray Kids, which came in second -- its highest-ever ranking and the third consecutive year in the global top five. 
Fresh from his Super Bowl halftime show, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny placed fifth in the rankings, his sixth consecutive year in the chart.
American rapper Tyler, The Creator marked his first appearance on the chart, in 12th place, with IFPI noting he had "continued to generate strong vinyl sales across his catalogue".
Meanwhile Japanese rock band Mrs. Green Apple entered the rankings for the first time one place below him, following what IFPI called "the success of their anniversary album '10'".
jj/jkb/jhb

culture

Notorious Courbet painting goes on show in Vienna

  • "Gustave Courbet: Realist and Rebel", opens on Thursday and runs until June 27. bg/jj/tw
  • One of Gustave Courbet's most controversial nudes, "The Origin of the World" will be the centrepiece of a major retrospective of the 19th-century French artist that opens in Vienna on Thursday.
  • "Gustave Courbet: Realist and Rebel", opens on Thursday and runs until June 27. bg/jj/tw
One of Gustave Courbet's most controversial nudes, "The Origin of the World" will be the centrepiece of a major retrospective of the 19th-century French artist that opens in Vienna on Thursday.
The 1866 painting of a naked woman lying with her legs open, has only relatively recently shown in public.
Normally on display at Paris's Musee d'Orsay it has been lent to Vienna's Leopold Museum for the retrospective.
Hans-Peter Wipplinger, artistic director at the Leopold Museum, told AFP it was only the fourth time the work had been cleared for a loan abroad.
It was originally bought by Khalil Sherif Pasha, widely known as Khalil-Bey, an Ottoman statesman and diplomat posted in Paris and then Vienna. It later passed through the hands of several private collectors. 
"Courbet deliberately created the painting for the private sphere; in the 19th century, a public presentation would have been unthinkable," says the exhibition notes.
It was only in 1955, that "The Origin of the World" was put on public display.
The painting is the centrepiece of the retrospective, along with another one sold to Khalil-Bey, "The Sleepers" an 1819 painting that shows two naked women sleeping togeether.
The Vienna show, with 128 different works, is one of the biggest retrospectives ever devoted to Courbet (1819-77), who defied the conventions of his day.
"We show for the first time Courbet's last four years, which he spent in Switzerland," said Wipplinger.
The retrospective, including several other works loaned from other countries, features paintings, sculptures and drawings.
The show also places Courbet's work in contrast with those of contemporary artist Yan Pei-Ming, who names Courbet as one of his great influences.
"Gustave Courbet: Realist and Rebel", opens on Thursday and runs until June 27.
bg/jj/tw

tourism

Turkey to give cash for soap TV series that boost national image

  • To receive the govermment cash, productions must comply with criteria, including the promotion of Turkey and its language, whether the countries to which the series are exported are among target markets for Turkish tourism as well as ratings and viewership data, the minister said. 
  • The Turkish government on Wednesday said it would provide incentives to producers of the country's increasingly popular soap TV series that promote Turkey and its language. 
  • To receive the govermment cash, productions must comply with criteria, including the promotion of Turkey and its language, whether the countries to which the series are exported are among target markets for Turkish tourism as well as ratings and viewership data, the minister said. 
The Turkish government on Wednesday said it would provide incentives to producers of the country's increasingly popular soap TV series that promote Turkey and its language. 
"We will provide support of up to the equivalent of 100,000 US dollars in Turkish lira per episode for our TV series" broadcast abroad, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told a news conference. 
Turkish television dramas and series, known as "dizi", are now available in 170 countries. Global demand rose by 184 percent between 2020 and 2023, figures from Parrot Analytics show.
Ersoy said Turkish series have become a "global brand that touches the lives of nearly one billion people across approximately 170 countries, spanning a vast geography from Asia to America, and from Africa to Europe."
"Currently, Turkey has become one of the world's top three television industries in terms of sales and export power," he said.  
"With export revenues exceeding one billion dollars, our sector has recently surpassed a historic threshold."
To receive the govermment cash, productions must comply with criteria, including the promotion of Turkey and its language, whether the countries to which the series are exported are among target markets for Turkish tourism as well as ratings and viewership data, the minister said. 
"As the ministry, we will also provide significant facilitation to our sector, such as accelerating bureaucratic procedures related to filming locations and the use of historical and cultural sites free of charge," he said. 
fo/tw

entertainment

US comedian Colbert says broadcaster spiked Democrat interview over Trump fears

  • Colbert said on Tuesday that CBS pulled his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from the broadcast the night over fears of violating the equal time rule -- which Colbert argued has never applied to talk shows. 
  • US late-night host Stephen Colbert accused CBS on Tuesday of refusing to broadcast his interview with a Democratic Senate candidate over fears it would violate regulatory guidance from President Donald Trump's administration.
  • Colbert said on Tuesday that CBS pulled his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from the broadcast the night over fears of violating the equal time rule -- which Colbert argued has never applied to talk shows. 
US late-night host Stephen Colbert accused CBS on Tuesday of refusing to broadcast his interview with a Democratic Senate candidate over fears it would violate regulatory guidance from President Donald Trump's administration.
Trump has publicly attacked talk show hosts as partisan, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued new directives last month thattalk shows give equal time to rival political candidates.
CBS said last year it was scrapping Colbert's "The Late Show", which often features an opening monologue that takes aim at the Republican president.
The announcement came after CBS's parent company Paramount reached a $16 million settlement with Trump over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.
Colbert said on Tuesday that CBS pulled his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from the broadcast the night over fears of violating the equal time rule -- which Colbert argued has never applied to talk shows. 
He referenced guidance from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seeking to eliminate a perceived exemption to the rule for talk shows.
"He had not gotten rid of it yet, but CBS generously did it for him and told me unilaterally that I had to abide by the equal time rules, something I have never been asked to do for an interview in the 21 years of this job," Colbert said on his show Tuesday.
"We looked, and we can't find one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late-night career, but for anyone's late-night career, going back to the 1960s."

'Stand up to bullies'

CBS has disputed Colbert's account, saying that the network only "provided legal guidance" that broadcasting the interview could violate the FCC directive. 
Colbert posted the nearly 15-minute interview with Talarico to YouTube, where it had more than 4.3 million views early Wednesday.
Talarico responded to the decision not to broadcast the interview, speculating that "Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas," which is represented by two Republican senators.  
The back-and-forth came two weeks before Texas's primary elections, in which Talarico will face off against Democratic US Representative Jasmine Crockett in the Senate contest. 
Crockett has previously appeared on Colbert's show.
CBS, which was purchased by the Trump-linked Ellison family last year, has faced accusations of political meddling, particularly after a last-minute decision in December not to air a report on the notorious Salvadoran prison where Trump has sent deported migrants.
Trump in his first year back in the White House has frequently lashed out at late-night hosts critical of his administration and has threatened to revoke network licenses -- comments critics say targets free speech. 
In December, he called Colbert a "pathetic trainwreck" who should be "put to sleep."
Colbert said on Tuesday's show he was not mad at CBS and noted he did not want "an adversarial relationship" with the network.
"I'm just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies," he said.
bur-lga/cms

film

Isabelle Huppert sinks teeth into Austrian vampire saga

BY PIERRICK YVON

  • Huppert, 72, plays the titular countess, inspired by the Renaissance-era Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noble who was accused of numerous murders and vampiric tendencies.
  • French screen legend Isabelle Huppert's latest film, which has premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, sees her play a flamboyant aristocratic vampire in Ulrike Ottinger's "Die Blutgraefin" ("The Blood Countess").
  • Huppert, 72, plays the titular countess, inspired by the Renaissance-era Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noble who was accused of numerous murders and vampiric tendencies.
French screen legend Isabelle Huppert's latest film, which has premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, sees her play a flamboyant aristocratic vampire in Ulrike Ottinger's "Die Blutgraefin" ("The Blood Countess").
Nobel Prize-winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek helped Ottinger, 83, write the script, which is set in some of Vienna's most alluring locations.
Not that the film is an idyllic picture postcard.
Huppert, 72, plays the titular countess, inspired by the Renaissance-era Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian noble who was accused of numerous murders and vampiric tendencies.
In the film, she returns to life to hunt down a magic book which has the potential to kill all vampires.
Jelinek's input resulted in a script that's "very raw and... biting", according to Huppert, although also with its "sunny" moments.
In a conversation with several journalists, including AFP, Huppert drew a parallel with Jelinek's work for the "The Blood Countess" and her novel "The Piano Teacher".
Huppert starred in Michael Haneke's 2001 adaptation of that book, winning the Best Actress award at Cannes for the role.
"'The Piano Teacher' was often navigating between something very dark, but also sometimes... a certain sense of humour, like in the good Austrian tradition," Huppert said.
Her latest black comedy takes the viewer on a tour of Vienna's Baroque architecture and cobbled streets, as well into the provinces of the Habsburg Empire.
"I've been to Vienna so many times since I was five," Huppert told reporters on Monday, explaining the layers of memories she has from the city, "whether it was filming, especially this time, when I was on stage, theatre, festivals...."
In the film, Huppert's countess character returns to life in a scarlet red funeral barge sailing into in the Seegrotte, an underground Viennese lake popular with tourists.
From there she strikes out into the countryside in a suitably stately carriage. 
Aside from being a "beautiful homage to Vienna," Huppert says that "the movie is really timeless and you can't exactly know when it's supposed to take place". 
"This is one of the great qualities of the film."

Carnivore Conchita Wurst

Ottinger started writing the film in the early 2000s, contacting Huppert about the project a few years later.
Huppert said of avant-garde German filmmaker Ottinger that "you want to follow her vision, her craziness". 
"She also brings a certain amount of poetry to the screen."
The film also stars Tom Neuwirth, known for his drag alter ego Conchita Wurst, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Austria in 2014.
He is "a very good actor and singer," according to Huppert.
The film has a queer dimension visible in the fascination the countess exerts over the beautiful young women she meets and kills along her journey.
However, Huppert emphasised the social symbolism of a vampire aristocracy that draws its power by feeding on ordinary mortals.
"The world is not fair," Huppert said, adding that Ottinger makes this point "in a very funny way".
"You take so many things from so many people," she says of the modern world.
As for any similarities between herself and her characters, Huppert insists: "I never see any parallel between me and what I play, never."  
And when it comes to immortality, she's "not sure" she would want to share that with her countess character.
Her outfit at Monday's press conference -- dark sunglasses, toga-like dress, and white gloves -- nevertheless evoked her status as a screen icon for the ages.
pyv/agu/ib/jsk/rmb

fashion

French designer threads a path in London fashion week

BY CAROLINE TAIX

  • "Some days I'm super excited, full of ideas, and others I'm like: why did I pick this colour, this fabric?"
  • Just days before her third runway show, French designer Pauline Dujancourt was riding a wave of excitement and nerves.
  • "Some days I'm super excited, full of ideas, and others I'm like: why did I pick this colour, this fabric?"
Just days before her third runway show, French designer Pauline Dujancourt was riding a wave of excitement and nerves.
The 31‑year‑old admitted she had begun having strange, nightmarish dreams ahead of her big moment at London Fashion Week on Sunday.
The British capital will once again host its Autumn/Winter fashion week from Thursday to Monday, after New York's bonanza and before the catwalk carousel moves to Milan and Paris.
London, known for its raw creative energy and rising talents, is where Dujancourt launched her label in April 2022 after training at the renowned arts and design school Ecole Duperre in Paris, and fashion hub Central Saint Martins in London.
She and her team began work in November on her autumn-winter 2026/27 collection to be unveiled before some 450 guests -- journalists, buyers and VIP clients.
For designers, everything comes down to those few precious minutes on the catwalk. It's no wonder nervousness mixes with the creative buzz.
"I go through every emotion," Dujancourt told AFP with a smile. "Some days I'm super excited, full of ideas, and others I'm like: why did I pick this colour, this fabric?"
The questions and worries snowball: "Will everyone be on time? Will there be last-minute hitches on the day?"

Grandma's knitting

In recent weeks, she has been running her daily schedule with military precision.
Dujancourt works year‑round with four assistant designers, but the team swells to around 50 people ahead of the show.
And she works with a community of knitters in Lima, Peru, with handknitting -- "something that my grandmother taught me as a child" -- being a hallmark of her garments.
"She was so skilful and so humble about it. And no one really realised how much work it takes and how much technique it takes," she said.
Known for her sensual, airy knitwear, Dujancourt was a finalist for the LVMH Prize, won Elle UK's young talent award, and is supported by the British Fashion Council.
Her clients span the globe from Japan to the United States, France and the UK, with regular requests for wedding dresses.
Her new collection pays tribute to women persecuted during historical witch hunts.
"I really want to celebrate the fact that there are so many women around the world who are working so humbly on domestic skills ... like sewing, hand knitting," she said.
Two weeks before the show, young seamstresses were crocheting floral motifs in mohair and Japanese metallic thread at a south London studio overlooking the Thames river and Big Ben.
Workers were hunched over their desks pouring over designs, with the looks still "in pieces".
Then comes the moment when everything is assembled. "It's the magical stage, when the clothes start to come alive," she said, her blue eyes lighting up her face framed by long dark hair.
Less than a week before the show, fittings begin with an in‑house model, followed by the castings to find the right models.
On the eve of the show come final fittings, hair and make‑up tests. And finally, on Sunday morning, the full rehearsal.

'Madness, chaos'

Show day always brings surprises. At Dujancourt's last catwalk in September, several models arrived extremely late, held up by another show.
"They turned up still wearing the other show's make-up. We had to dress them and redo everything ... I nearly died," she recalled.
What is her worst nightmare? A model tripping or garments ripping in front of the cameras.
"I once dreamt I'd forgotten to get dressed before coming out to greet the audience -- that would be a bit embarrassing," she joked.
Around 25 outfits will strut the catwalk on Sunday, a moment that "goes by in a flash". 
Afterwards comes the crash.
"We barely see it happening ... because we are backstage in the madness and the chaos of it," she said.
But then it's finished "and there's a bit of baby blues afterwards," as she comes down off the adrenaline rush.
Dujancourt heads to Paris after London Fashion Week to meet buyers, before work begins again for her next show, in September.
ctx/jkb/aks/yad

Kurtag

Hungarian star composer Kurtag celebrates 100th birthday with new opera

BY GéZA MOLNAR AND BALAZS WIZNER

  • In a rare interview with a Hungarian weekly in 2017, Kurtag confided that composing can sometimes be "painful".
  • As Hungarian Gyorgy Kurtag, who is widely considered one of the greatest living classical composers, turns 100 on Thursday, he will offer a one-of-a-kind birthday gift to music lovers: a brand-new opera.
  • In a rare interview with a Hungarian weekly in 2017, Kurtag confided that composing can sometimes be "painful".
As Hungarian Gyorgy Kurtag, who is widely considered one of the greatest living classical composers, turns 100 on Thursday, he will offer a one-of-a-kind birthday gift to music lovers: a brand-new opera.
In recent weeks, people across the globe have paid tribute to the star composer, with Budapest marking his centennial with special events, concerts and documentaries.
Later this month, the world premiere of Kurtag's second opera "Die Stechardin" about the 18th-century love story of a German polymath and a flower girl will cap the centenary of his birth.
In a rare interview with a Hungarian weekly in 2017, Kurtag confided that composing can sometimes be "painful".
But despite being confined to a wheelchair and suffering a loss of hearing, Kurtag has lost none of his intellectual vibrancy or passion for music, according to those close to him.
"He doesn't hear so well anymore. But in return, he feels even more, he perceives even more from the world and from music," Concerto Budapest conductor Andras Keller told AFP during a rehearsal of Kurtag's new one-act opera earlier this month.
When his wife, pianist Marta Kurtag, who was also a close artistic partner, died in 2019, "everyone was scared about what would happen next", said Laszlo Goz, director of Budapest Music Center, where Kurtag now resides.
But Kurtag resumed composing, "writing increasingly larger and more complex pieces". 
"He began teaching again, and now he has written his second opera, which is a kind of message to his wife, Marta," Goz said.
Born on 19 February, 1926, in the Romanian city of Lugoj to ethnic Hungarian parents, Kurtag started playing the piano as a young boy.
After taking piano and composition lessons as a teenager in Timisoara, he eventually moved to Budapest in 1946, where he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. 
While studying, he met fellow composer Gyorgy Sandor Ligeti.
He graduated in piano and chamber music in 1951, and later in composition, before pursuing his studies in Paris for a year.
Over the decades, the award-winning musician became famous for composing short yet highly complex pieces, and only turning to opera late in life.

'Master of miniature forms'

Throughout his career, Kurtag drew inspiration from literature and the works of famous compatriots like Bela Bartok. But despite his success, he was not immune to suffering from writer's block.
After returning to Hungary, in 1960 he became a repetiteur with the Budapest Philharmonic Society, and would later teach piano and chamber music at his alma mater.
At age 92, his first opera "Fin de partie" premiered at Milan's famous La Scala in late 2018.
Based on Irish writer Samuel Beckett's play "Endgame", and more than seven years in the making, Kurtag and his wife did not attend the premiere due to their advanced age and instead opted for the radio broadcast.
Like Beckett, who lived and died in Paris, Kurtag also has a passion for the French language.
The musician and his wife settled near Bordeaux in France in the mid-1990s before moving back to Hungary in 2015.
Kurtag's "music glows with such intensity, even in its quietest, most refined moments," said music historian Gergely Fazekas. 
His music "strives with such force to discover what reality is... what is unspoken but still there," Fazekas told AFP during a ceremony in early February at the Liszt Academy, where the composer received an honorary doctorate and led a rehearsal of his new opera.
He said Kurtag is widely referred to as "the master of miniature forms", as many of his pieces "capture only a few minutes or even less period of time from eternity". 
bur-oaa-kym/gv

culture

Congolese rumba, music caught between neglect and nostalgia

  • - 'Under threat'  -  In Kinshasa's hip bars, the rumba of yesteryear has given way to a modern fusion of Afropop and RnB, a style notably popularised outside the country by Congolese artist Fally Ipupa.
  • Each weekend, dancers stoked on music and alcohol sway to the old hits on the decrepit rooftop terrace of Kinshasa's venerable La Creche bar like little has changed in the Congolese capital since the 1980s.
  • - 'Under threat'  -  In Kinshasa's hip bars, the rumba of yesteryear has given way to a modern fusion of Afropop and RnB, a style notably popularised outside the country by Congolese artist Fally Ipupa.
Each weekend, dancers stoked on music and alcohol sway to the old hits on the decrepit rooftop terrace of Kinshasa's venerable La Creche bar like little has changed in the Congolese capital since the 1980s.
The beer flows freely and the party goes on into the small hours while the band keep alive the traditions of Congolese rumba, a genre of music whose origins experts believe lie in the time before European colonialism.
Yet rumba is so much more than the soundtrack to a good night out on the town. Having made UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2021, rumba stands as a source of intense national pride in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as across the border in Congo-Brazzaville.
"If you feel nostalgic and wish we could go back to the good old days, come to La Creche," singer Albert Diasihilua cheered before taking to the stage.
As midnight nears with the party in full swing, the waitress joins the throng on the dancefloor, swept up by the tunes -- until a power cut brings the music to a halt.
A generator thrums into life and the dancing begins anew.
Since 1984, La Creche's legendary orchestra has passed down the rumba tradition, performing covers of the great classics by legends like Franco Luambo, Tabu Ley Rochereau and Grand Kalle.
"This is the home of authentic rumba," insisted Diasihilua.
But despite the UNESCO listing, many fear for the future of the genre given its relative neglect by the younger generations.
- 'Under threat'  - 
In Kinshasa's hip bars, the rumba of yesteryear has given way to a modern fusion of Afropop and RnB, a style notably popularised outside the country by Congolese artist Fally Ipupa.
"We cannot lose this music as we are on the way out," pleaded Diasihilua, who has already spent 50 of his 73 years on earth gigging.
To help preserve the genre, a national museum of rumba officially opened its doors to the public in the capital in December. The museum is housed in the former home of rumba star Papa Wemba, who died in 2016.
For Glodi Nkiadiasivi, the museum's assistant director, Congolese rumba is "under threat" of being forgotten.
"Young people do not understand its richness, they're more and more influenced by American, Nigerian and French songs," Nkiadiasivi added.
Besides displays of clothes from Papa Wemba's famously flamboyant wardrobe and traditional Congolese instruments, the museum hopes to attract visitors through guided tours, conferences and concerts.
But just a hundred or so guests have come so far, according to Nkiadiasivi.

'Cramping the style'

With less than one percent of the government's budget devoted to culture, little help is expected from the Congolese state.
Yet at the National Institute of the Arts (INA) in Kinshasa, founded shortly after independence from Belgium in 1960, teachers are striving to train the next generation. Since 2022, students can take classes in the history of Congolese rumba and the basics of musical theory.
"There are lots of very talented artists in the city, but they don't know how to read music because they learnt on the job," said Michel Lutangamo, a professor and conductor at the INA.
Ethnomusicologist Jean-Romain Malwengo, who also teaches at the institute, pointed out that "rumba, like our other traditional music styles, is based on the oral tradition and therefore very fleeting."
"It could disappear at any moment. So the best way to preserve it is to write it down," he added.
For around 15 years, the researcher has worked with students on a project to transcribe music broadcast by television and radio or on vinyl. Between 300 and 400 songs have been preserved so far.
"It's our identity, it's a part of us," Malwengo added.
In his third year of a music degree, 26-year-old guitarist Daniel Lukusa reminisced about how much better the rumba played on repeat in his family home was.
"Pure rumba is starting to get lost," he said.
"Young people think they're adding special effects, when in fact they're cramping the style."
str-cld/sbk/rlp

conflict

'Close our eyes': To escape war, Muscovites flock to high culture

BY BéATRICE LE BOHEC

  • "It's a certain attempt to escape reality," she said, standing on the glittering square in front of the Bolshoi as she talked about having "fewer opportunities to go somewhere and leave the country."
  • In front of Moscow's ornate Bolshoi Theatre, its soft yellow lights illuminating a snowstorm in the Russian capital, Valentina Ivakina had come to "escape today's problems".   
  • "It's a certain attempt to escape reality," she said, standing on the glittering square in front of the Bolshoi as she talked about having "fewer opportunities to go somewhere and leave the country."
In front of Moscow's ornate Bolshoi Theatre, its soft yellow lights illuminating a snowstorm in the Russian capital, Valentina Ivakina had come to "escape today's problems".   
It is a knowing reference to the war that has been raging between Russia and Ukraine for the past four years, with Muscovites increasingly turning to culture and art to detach from the reality of the conflict, unleashed by the Kremlin's February 2022 offensive.  
Concert halls are packed, the famed Tretyakov Gallery is teeming even on a midweek afternoon. A Marc Chagall exhibition at the Pushkin Museum: sold out.
Museum attendance in Moscow, which competes with Saint Petersburg as Russia's cultural capital, jumped 30 percent in 2025, according to deputy mayor Natalya Sergunina.
Ivakina has spent much of the winter bouncing from show to show.
On a stormy evening, the 45-year-old marketing specialist was heading to a Sergei Prokofiev opera at the Bolshoi's historic stage. The night before, at its New Stage, she was at a ballet based on an Anton Chekhov work. A week ago, the theatre.
"It's a certain attempt to escape reality," she said, standing on the glittering square in front of the Bolshoi as she talked about having "fewer opportunities to go somewhere and leave the country."
Russians have become accustomed to alluding about the war in code, avoiding specific phrases or opinions that could land them years in prison under military censorship laws.
Usually a single phrase -- "the context" -- is enough to know the underlying topic of conversation.
The conflict, launched when Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has become Europe's deadliest since World War II, killing tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Immediately hit with sanctions, Russia has been pushed off the world stage -- athletes banned, artists' shows cancelled and tourist visas harder to obtain.
At home, the state has pushed the war into daily life -- promoting the army, soldiers, and masculine narratives of "patriotic values" as core Russian values.
Those who openly oppose are liable to arrest and prosecution.

'Silent conspiracy'

"There seems to be very few things left to cling to," said Viktor Chelin, a photographer coming out of the Chagall exhibition, titled "The Joy of Earthly Gravity", with his wife.
Trips to the museum are "a kind of silent conspiracy," he told AFP.
"You walk around and understand that you're united with others by the admiration of a certain beauty."
"Something enormous happened in Russia, which we are all afraid of. We close our eyes to it, but try to live and maintain and certain normality," said Chelin, 30.
Wearing a cap pulled low, he talked about "the feeling, as they say, of a feast in time of plague," a reference to the 1830s play by Alexander Pushkin, Russia's national poet, written during a cholera epidemic.
He and his wife moved to Georgia for two years after Russia launched its offensive, before returning to Saint Petersburg.
They are now regular visitors to the grand Hermitage Museum, housed in the former palace of the Tsars.
"We're not even going to see specific works of art, we're grounding ourselves, as if we're connecting to something familiar," he said.
Sociologist Denis Volkov of the Levada Centre -- designated a "foreign agent" by Russian authorities -- said escapism is prevalent across Russia. 
"People don't want to follow events, they don't want to get information about what's happening on the battlefield," he told AFP.
"There's been a continuous desire to cut down the flow of bad news, to filter it out somehow, not to discuss it with relatives or friends. Perhaps that's where this surge in interest in culture comes from."
He added, however, that the mindset also chimes with the line being put out by the authorities -- that life in Russia continues as normal, despite the war.
"Festivals, parties, concerns -- it reflects the authorities' policy that life goes on. They fight somewhere over there, and here we live our lives without worry," Volkov said.
Outside of the Chagall exhibition in Moscow, former piano teacher Irina refutes the idea of trying to escape from the war.
In her short fur coat and bright pink lips, she said she is well aware of "everything that's happening in the world, and where black and white lie."
"We live with it, yes, we live with it," she said. "We often go to all the exhibitions that nourish us and lift our spirits."
blb/jc/gv

film

Dozens of film figures condemn Berlin Film Festival 'silence' on Gaza

BY ANTOINE GUY AND JASTINDER KHERA

  • The signatories include many artists who have presented work at the Berlin Film Festival.
  • More than 80 film industry figures including Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton issued a statement on Tuesday slamming the Berlin Film Festival's "silence" on Gaza. 
  • The signatories include many artists who have presented work at the Berlin Film Festival.
More than 80 film industry figures including Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton issued a statement on Tuesday slamming the Berlin Film Festival's "silence" on Gaza. 
The signatories to the open letter, sent to AFP, said they were "appalled" by the festival's "institutional silence" and "dismayed" at its "involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza".
Their statement came after the Berlinale's jury president, German director Wim Wenders, answered a question on Gaza last week by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."
Prominent directors who signed Tuesday's letter, coordinated by the Film Workers for Palestine collective, include British filmmaker Mike Leigh and the American Adam McKay.
The signatories include many artists who have presented work at the Berlin Film Festival. Swinton was herself last year awarded its prestigious Honorary Golden Bear award.
They said they "fervently disagree" with Wenders's comments, arguing that filmmaking and politics cannot be separated. 
"Just as the festival has made clear statements in the past about atrocities carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel's genocide," the letter adds.
The signatories took exception not only to the Berlinale's stance on Gaza, but also "the German state's key role in enabling" Israel's actions.

'Media storm'

The festival has been hit by controversy over Gaza several times in recent years.
When asked about Germany's support for Israel at a press conference on Thursday, Wenders said filmmakers had "to stay out of politics". 
"We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians," he said.
Fellow jury member Ewa Puszczynska said it was a "little bit unfair" to expect the jury to take a direct stance on the issue.
Their comments had already sparked a backlash. Award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy cancelled a planned appearance at the festival, saying she was "shocked and disgusted" at the jury members' comments.
On Saturday, the Berlinale put out a statement defending Wenders from the "media storm", indicating that his remarks had been taken out of context.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle said that artists "are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose" and should not "be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to".
In 2024, the festival's documentary award went to "No Other Land", which follows the dispossession of Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 
German government officials criticised "one-sided" remarks about Gaza by the directors of that film and others at that year's awards ceremony.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliation has left at least 71,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.
agu-jsk/sbk