This is Beirut - Culture

In 'the Last Ship', Sting Honors a Lost Industry and Warns of a Divided Future

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

British singer-songwriting legend Sting finds the multiple genres and streaming platforms of the modern music scene "quite odd", but still believes in the power of song to unite people. In an interview with AFP, the 74-year-old with 17 Grammy Awards and sales of over 100 million albums also spoke about his worries about AI as a tool for ...

#MeToo: Navigating Art by Controversial Creators

Bélinda Ibrahim, 14/10 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

#MeToo Culture Artists Music Movies

On the sidewalk outside the Champo in Paris in 2019, during the release of J’accuse, filmgoers’ queue mingled with banners protesting the selection of Polanski’s work. That same month, Spotify announced the temporary removal of R. Kelly’s tracks from its official playlists, bowing to media pressure. But six weeks later, the platform ...

Taylor Swift, Love, Diamonds and Pop: Everything She Touches Turns to Gold

Marie-Christine Tayah, 14/10 16:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Taylor Swift Music Culture Economy Art Star

Dominating music charts, Taylor Swift leads in multiple areas, establishing herself as a worldwide sensation. The American star creates rare ripple effects across music, fashion and even finance. At 35, after announcing her engagement to American football player Travis Kelce this summer, Swift triggered an immediate reaction from millions of fans ...

Qatar Reveals Ownership of Courbet Masterpiece, Loans It to Paris’s Musée d’Orsay

This is Beirut, 14/10 14:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Painting Museum Gustave Courbet Qatar France Diplomacy Culture

Qatar has revealed itself as the owner of a famous self-portrait by French realist master Gustave Courbet and will loan the painting to Paris's Musee d'Orsay for five years, museum officials said on Monday. "The Desperate Man" depicts Courbet with a wild-eyed stare looking out of the canvas in a work that is one of his best known alongside "The ...

Nasser Taghvai, Iranian Cinema Pioneer and Longtime Regime Critic, Passes Away

This is Beirut, 14/10 12:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Filmmaker Nasser Taghvai Obituary Anti-censorship Iran Culture

Prominent Iranian filmmaker Nasser Taghvai, widely known for his long struggle against censorship, Taghvai has died at the age of 84, his wife said Tuesday. "Nasser Taghvai, an artist who chose the difficulty of living freely, has earned his liberation," his wife, actor Marzieh Vafamehr, wrote on Instagram. Taghvai was born on July 13, 1941 in ...

Sean Penn Captivates Lyon with His Unexpected Dream Role

This is Beirut, 14/10 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Sean Penn Actor Cinema Culture Art Lyon

“The dream role is the one that surprises you the way this one did,” said American actor Sean Penn on Monday in Lyon, central France, reflecting on his part as a sadistic soldier in his latest film One Battle After Another. Honored as the guest of the 17th Lumière Film Festival—an event celebrating global cinema—Penn shared insights ...

From Waste to Runway: Kenyan Designers Transform Used Clothes Into Art

This is Beirut, 13/10 17:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Fashion Recycling Designers Kenya Culture

In a dusty alley in the heart of Kenya's largest open-air market, fashion models strut down a makeshift runway in bold, upcycled outfits made from waste collected at dumpsites and market cast-offs, proof that even trash can dazzle. Every year, thousands of tons of used clothes from Europe, the United States, and beyond make their way to ...

From Paris to Lagos: Exhibition Celebrates Fela Kuti’s Musical Legacy

This is Beirut, 13/10 15:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Exhibition Musician Fela Kuti Heritage Nigeria Culture

The "King of Afrobeat", "Black President", activist and legendary musician Fela Kuti has returned to his hometown and Nigeria's cultural capital Lagos through a landmark exhibition that celebrates his life and legacy and opens Monday. The Afrobeat Rebellion exhibition, organized by the French Embassy and the Kuti family, builds on one held in ...

Hollywood Mourns Icon Diane Keaton After Her Passing at 79

This is Beirut, 13/10 13:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Diane Keaton Cinema Actress Heritage Culture Art

Fellow actors and directors who worked with Diane Keaton recalled her life and work after the family of the American actor announced her death Saturday. Keaton, who was 79, appeared in eight Woody Allen movies, winning an Oscar for her role in Annie Hall, and also starred in The Godfather films. Woody Allen ‘upset’ Woody Allen, 89, “is ...

Boualem Sansal Elected to Belgium’s Royal Academy While Imprisoned

This is Beirut, 13/10 10:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Boualem Sansal Algeria France Literature Prize Culture

Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has been imprisoned in Algeria for nearly a year, has been elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, the Academy’s permanent secretary Yves Namur told AFP on Sunday. “Boualem Sansal embodies the creative spirit of the writer, which is inseparable from the freedom it ...

#MeToo: Exposed Online, Condemned Without Appeal

Bélinda Ibrahim, 12/10 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

#MeToo Social Media Justice Culture

Since the start of #MeToo, public exposure has reached unprecedented levels. Sometimes, a single post on social media — even an anonymous one — is enough to destroy a reputation or end a career. The exclusion is sudden, brutal. Accusations spread online at a speed that traditional justice cannot match. Many see this as real progress: scandals ...

Guillermo Del Toro Backs Paris Stop-Motion Animation Studio

This is Beirut, 12/10 12:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Film Animation Guillermo del Toro Education France Culture

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro said Friday he was teaming up with a Paris film school and Netflix to launch a training studio to help old-fashioned stop-motion animation techniques survive. Stop motion is the oldest form of animation, involving manipulating real-life models to create films frame-by-frame. It dates back to the late 19th ...

Culture