Culture

'Below the Clouds': Gianfranco Rosi’s Meditative Portrait of Naples

This is Beirut 17:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

If the regular recipe for success in the modern entertainment industry or on social media is being loud, attention-seeking, and a prolific creator of "content," Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi has carved out a career doing the exact opposite. The work of the award-winning documentary producer is everything our contemporary culture is not: slow, ...

'Demon Slayer' Film Shatters Historic Global Box Office Record

This is Beirut 15:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Demon Slayer Cinema Culture Art

The latest film adaptation of the Demon Slayer manga franchise has become the first Japanese movie to gross more than 100 billion yen ($644 million) worldwide, its distributors said. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — Infinity Castle: Part 1, about sword-swishing Tanjiro Kamado's final showdown to slay demons and make his sister human again, is ...

Wicked Sequel Expands Oz With Depth, Music And Magic

This is Beirut 13:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Cinema Premiere NYC Culture Art

When Universal Pictures split its musical adaptation of Wicked into two films, the move was derided by some critics as a cynical — if spectacularly successful — money grab. But with Wicked: For Good out in theaters around the world this week, its stars and filmmakers say the decision has freed them up to expand the Wizard of Oz prequel ...

Two Newly Discovered Bach Organ Works Unveiled in Germany

This is Beirut 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Johann Sebastian Bach Germany Culture

Two long-lost organ pieces written by a teenage Johann Sebastian Bach were unveiled in Germany on Monday in a discovery described as a "great moment for the world of music." The two solo organ works, written while Bach was working as an organ teacher in the town of Arnstadt in Thuringia early in his career, first caught the attention of ...

When French Luxury Meets India’s Deep Fashion Traditions

This is Beirut 17/11 17:35 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Luxury Retail India Galeries Lafayette France Culture

The globe's biggest luxury brands have dreamt of India's vast consumer base for decades, but navigating the market has proven to be a complex task. French retailer Galeries Lafayette is the latest to try its luck, opening its first Indian store on Sunday: a sprawling five-floor outlet in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. Its ...

Iran Design Week Sparks Controversy After Viral Videos Surface

This is Beirut 17/11 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Tehran Iran Women Censorship Culture Art

A cultural event in Iran dedicated to design has stirred controversy after viral videos—denounced as “vulgar”—showed women without headscarves, leading to a partial shutdown, a local media outlet reported Sunday. Tehran Design Week, held across roughly sixty venues, promotes itself as a must-see gathering for brands, artists, and design ...

Tom Cruise Receives an Honorary Oscar for His Body of Work

This is Beirut 17/11 11:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Cinema Movies Tom Cruise Culture Art Oscar

Often nominated but never awarded, American actor Tom Cruise received an Honorary Oscar on Sunday night—the first golden statuette of his long and decorated career—before a hall full of Hollywood’s biggest names at the Governors Awards. To the sound of the iconic Mission Impossible score, a defining element of the 63-year-old actor’s ...

Box Office Weekend Surprises Audiences with 'Now You See Me'

This is Beirut 17/11 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Movies Cinema Box office Culture Art

Now You See Me: Now You Don't — the third installment in the crime-heist franchise about a group of magicians — debuted atop the North American box office, besting the Glen Powell-fronted remake of The Running Man, industry estimates showed Sunday. Lionsgate's Now You See Me — which reunites Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and ...

Lady Dior: The Legendary Bag Inspired by Lady Di

Bélinda Ibrahim 16/11 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lady Dior Bag Lady Diana Fashion Iconic Culture

In September 1995, the destiny of an accessory was forever transformed during an official visit by Princess Diana to Paris. Invited to the Cézanne exhibition at the Grand Palais, the princess received a Dior bag from Bernadette Chirac, then France’s first lady. This understated object, still unnamed, was soon destined for legend, born from the ...

Word of the week“Accident”: When Chance Collides With the Road

Sana Richa Choucair 16/11 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations Road safety Road traffic victims World Day WHO YASA

Around 1.19 million people die in road traffic accidents every year worldwide. Each November 16, as part of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – established by the UN in 2005 – the world pauses to acknowledge that a seemingly ordinary word hides devastating human realities. The term “accident”, often used as a synonym ...

Iran’s First Woman Conductor Leads Change on Cultural Stage

This is Beirut 16/11 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Iran Music Art Culture Women Orchestra

When Paniz Faryoussefi mounts the podium and reaches for her baton, she represents more than just the hope of a thrilling orchestral performance. The eyes turned towards her in Tehran's renowned Vahdat Hall include those of many young women musicians inspired by her taking her place as Iran's first woman philharmonic conductor. Women's ...

Spotlight'Michael' Sparks Jackson Fever Ahead of Release

Bélinda Ibrahim 15/11 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Michael Jackson Michael Biopic Movie Culture Music

At dawn on November 7, the numbers made headlines. Less than 24 hours after its release, the trailer for the biopic Michael had already racked up 116 million views worldwide. The figure is more than a digital milestone. It underscores Michael Jackson’s enduring presence in popular memory, fifteen years after his death, and places the King of Pop ...