Category Archives: Culture

Star quality: Russia premieres first feature film shot in space

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Vladimir Putin hails achievement that beat Hollywood project announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX

The first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday, as Moscow exulted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the west.

The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actor and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 2021 to film scenes aboard the orbiting laboratory.

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Moonbin, K-pop star and member of boy band Astro, dies aged 25

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The pop star was found unresponsive on Wednesday evening in his Gangnam apartment

K-pop star Moonbin, a member of the boy band Astro, has died at the age of 25, his music label Fantagio announced on Thursday.

Local media, citing the police, reported that Moonbin had been found unresponsive on Wednesday evening in his apartment in the upscale Gangnam neighbourhood of Seoul.

International helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.

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Cannes defends decision to pick Johnny Depp film as festival opener

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Prestige slot for Jeanne de Barry, featuring Depp as Louis XV, has drawn criticism but general delegate Thierry Frémaux says it is not ‘a controversial choice’

Cannes film festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux has defended the decision to hand the prestigious opening slot to Jeanne du Barry, in which Depp stars as Louis XV.

Directed by and starring Maïwenn, Jeanne du Barry is a biopic of the famous 18th-century maîtresse-en-titre, who was executed in 1793 during the French revolution. Speaking to Variety, Frémaux said it was not “a controversial choice”, adding: “If Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but that’s not the case. We only know one thing, it’s the justice system and I think he won the legal case.”

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Why are British audiences suddenly so out of control? – podcast

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From fights at the Bodyguard musical to wild drunken antics at comedy clubs and even heckling at the opera, performers and theatre staff say crowds are getting out of hand. What’s going on?

From drunken revellers singing over emotional ballads at jukebox musicals to an opera-goer heckling a child performer, there has been a growing number of news stories since the pandemic about people behaving badly at entertainment venues. Then came the headlines about the police being called to the Bodyguard musical to quell an actual fight.

So what, exactly, is happening to British audiences, which are stereotypically seen as polite and even repressed? Theatre critic Alice Savile tells Nosheen Iqbal about her recent wild nights out at the theatre, and how front-of-house staff are finding it hard to cope. We hear from usher Bethany North on the abuse she’s experienced.

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Why Berlin’s U-Bahn musical shows no sign of hitting the buffers

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The longest-running production in Germany, restaged for a new generation of theatregoers, is a curious mixture of 80s nostalgia and politics … with great tunes

The four men dressed in widow’s weeds of black bombazine had hardly stepped on to the stage when the first yelps of delight rippled through the audience at Berlin’s Grips theatre, an intimate 360-seat venue in the west of the city. By the time the quartet in drag have locked arms to kick up their heels, the mixed-age crowd is clapping in time to the oompah beat.

The Wilmersdorf Widows song is to Volker Ludwig’s musical Linie 1 (Line One) what All That Jazz is to Chicago, or Time Warp to The Rocky Horror Picture Show: the catchy showstopper that brings the house down.

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Time is a traveller: the Tenterfield Saddler is up for sale

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Building which inspired Peter Allen’s 1972 hit is up for sale, amid calls for the government to step in and preserve it as a cultural destination

The Tenterfield Saddler, immortalised by Peter Allen, is up for sale, and fans of the Australian songwriter are calling for government intervention to preserve its history.

This modest, two-room building was raised in hand-cut local blue granite, timber and tin on the high street of the northern New South Wales town in 1870. Word was that bush poet AB ‘Banjo’ Paterson was a regular customer.

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Scared of the Dark will help public understand sight loss, says blind contestant

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Chris McCausland says Channel 4 show gave him the experience of ‘being the most able’ competitor

It has recently been called one of television’s most ridiculous reality shows. But the new Channel 4 series Scared of the Dark will help audiences understand sight loss, a contestant has said.

The blind comedian Chris McCausland is one of eight famous faces who stepped out of the spotlight and into a pitch-black bunker for eight days for the experiment, hosted by Danny Dyer. It will show how they cope with the pressures of light deprivation and humanity’s primal fear of the dark.

It’s a Knockout, BBC One, 1966 Giant obstacle-based physical series that spawned a Europe-wide and royal version.

Touch the Truck, Channel 5, 2001 Dale Winton-fronted endurance show featured contestants holding on to a truck for the longest to win it.

Naked Jungle, Channel 5, 2000 A nudist Crystal Maze meets It’s a Knockout, fronted by Keith Chegwin.

Shafted, ITV, 2001 Robert Kilroy-Silk’s ill-fated show created TV’s most infamous catchphrase, “to share or to shaft”.

Celebrity Shark Bait, ITV, 2005 Richard E Grant and Ruby Wax were among the stars locked in a metal cage in shark-infested waters.

Hole in the Wall, BBC One, 2008 Teams of celebrities tried to jump through shapes in a moving wall.

Heads or Tails, Channel 5, 2009 Justin Lee Collins oversaw contestants flipping a coin to try to win £1m.

Don’t Scare the Hare, BBC One, 2011 Contestants carried out a mad series of challenges against a giant robotic hare.

That Puppet Game Show, BBC One, 2013 The Muppets’ short-lived move into gameshows.

The Jump, C4, 2014 Insurance nightmare celebrity ski jump show created 34 casualties.

Flockstars, ITV, 2015 Celebrities attempt sheepdog trials.

Wild Things, Sky One, 2015 Couples dressed as animals competed on a woodland obstacle course.

Apocalypse Wow, ITV2, 2021 Gladiators meets BDSM.

Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home, Channel 4, 2023 Race Across the World in the buff.

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Masterpieces and margaritas: National Portrait Gallery to open new bar as part of revamp

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London gallery will be latest institution to offer after-hours events when it reopens in June after a £35m refurbishment

If gazing at paintings in the hushed surroundings of an art gallery isn’t your thing, perhaps cocktails, live DJ sets and quirky fashion shows are. In which case, head straight to that art gallery.

This week the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in central London announced that when it reopens in June after a £35m refurbishment, a new bar will serve cocktails and small plates long after its display areas have closed.

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Ukrainian orchestra’s key members refused visas to play in UK

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Promoter claims ‘catastrophe’ has cost it more than £88k and accuses British government of hypocrisy

Key members of a Ukrainian state orchestra were refused visas to play a series of concerts in the UK this month in a “catastrophe” that the promoter claims cost it more than €100,000 (£88,000).

The Khmelnitsky Orchestra was due to tour the UK this month with two shows: The Magical Music of Harry Potter, and The Music From the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit andThe Rings of Power.

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Anne Perry, killer turned crime writer, dies aged 84

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After murdering her friend’s mother as a teenager, as dramatised in film Heavenly Creatures, she turned to writing period thrillers

A British crime writer who helped bludgeon her friend’s mother to death as a teenager and was the inspiration for Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures has died in Los Angeles, her publisher announced Wednesday. She was 84.

Anne Perry, a prolific author whose period thrillers have sold over 25m copies worldwide, was 15 years old when she and her friend Pauline Parker murdered Pauline’s mother in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1954. Honora Mary Parker died after being hit with a brick about 20 times, in a killing that shocked and captivated the country.

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Former J-pop idol alleges sexual abuse by late music mogul Johnny Kitagawa

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Kauan Okamoto says Kitagawa evaded justice because victims knew speaking out would end their careers

Johnny Kitagawa, one of the most powerful figures in Japanese entertainment, sexually abused multiple boys but evaded justice because his victims knew speaking out would end their pop careers, according to a former protege who has decided to go public with his allegations.

Kauan Okamoto, a Japanese-Brazilian singer-songwriter, said Kitagawa had sexually abused him at least 15 times over a four-year period from 2012, when the pop hopeful was aged 15.

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‘Even in the realms of extreme, it’s extreme’: how UK music festivals are planning for freak weather

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Whether waterlogged from flooding or parched and prone to wildfires, festival sites are having to plan for every eventuality – and the costs are substantial

Wellies and sun hats are the traditional first guard against the elements at festivals, but this summer they may not be enough to protect revellers. Flood defences, wildfire response teams and satellite weather-monitoring technology are among the ways UK music festivals are adapting to extreme weather events fuelled by the climate crisis.

Last summer’s record high temperatures in the UK hit during festival season, and the changing climate has become one of the industry’s biggest challenges, increasing the frequency, severity and likelihood of weather such as heatwaves and thunderstorms. With preparations underway for this year’s festival season, event organisers are increasing their contingency plans to secure their events, at a time of higher costs in labour, energy and insurance.

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Grenfell fire: National Theatre play to tell survivors’ stories

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Production is at centre of collaboration with west London community affected by 2017 disaster

The National Theatre is to stage a verbatim play based on accounts by survivors and those bereaved by the Grenfell Tower fire almost six years ago as the centrepiece of a long-term collaborative project with the west London community.

The play, Grenfell: in the words of survivors, is the work of the novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo, who spent five years gaining the confidence of community members and recording their accounts of the disaster in north Kensington which killed 72 people.

Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors will be at the National Theatre from 13 July until 26 August.

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John Olsen, celebrated Australian artist, dies aged 95

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In a career spanning seven decades best known for his landscapes, Olsen won the Archibald prize in 2005 for a self-portrait

John Olsen, one of Australia’s most celebrated artists best known for his landscapes, has died aged 95.

Olsen, who won the Archibald prize in 2005 for a self-portrait and was appointed to the Order of Australia in 2001, passed away on Tuesday evening surrounded by his family.

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African film-makers reimagine folktales as dark fantasy dramas for Netflix

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The six films include the tale of an ogre who preys on women, a sci-fi Nigeria taken over by AI, and a girl on a mission to end drought

Traditional African tales of monsters, genies and malevolent spirits have been reworked for a contemporary audience in a new Netflix series.

Film-makers from Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritania and Uganda have turned six traditional stories into dark fantasy dramas that cover topics including domestic violence, suicide and child marriage.

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York and Shetland sites join UK bids for Unesco world heritage status

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The list of hopefuls also includes sites in Birkenhead, Northern Ireland and the Cayman Islands

The historic city centre of York and ancient settlements in the Shetlands are among seven sites backed by the UK government to win Unesco world heritage status, it has been announced.

York, which boasts the Minster and enjoys a rich history bequeathed by its Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman inhabitants, and three ancient settlements known as the “zenith of iron age Shetland” join five other sites announced on the “tentative list” to bid for the status.

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‘An attack on culture’: Athens film fans fight threat to historic cinemas

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Directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos have joined campaign to save the Astor and Ideal from hotel and office developments

The spectre of two historic Athens cinemas being closed by commercial interests bent on turning them into a hotel and office block has spurred film-makers to get in front of the camera with pleas to stop the process.

Directors of international acclaim have appealed to save the buildings amid mounting public disquiet over the pace of development in one of Europe’s oldest capitals. Leading the charge, Costa-Gavras, the Paris-based film director who shot to fame with the political drama Z, released when Greece was under military rule, called the existence of the Ideal and Astor cinemas indispensable for the enjoyment of film in an era when the “barbarism” of movies being watched on TV and mobile phones was widespread.

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‘All the details that were missing’: Harry Potter fans on their hopes for TV series

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While many Potterheads celebrated reports of HBO Max show, some feel it would be tainted by JK Rowling’s stance on gender

At Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross station, Harry Potter devotees from around the world gathered to take their picture in front of one of the book’s most celebrated locations.

Fans of all ages were enthused by a particular story that took the internet by storm this week – that a long-rumoured Potter TV series could be in the works after reports that a deal was imminent between HBO Max and JK Rowling.

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Paris exhibition to tell story of eccentric acting pioneer Sarah Bernhardt

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Petit Palais show celebrates breadth of belle epoque theatre star’s creative talents with 400 exhibits

On page 158 of a heavy, leather-bound Paris police register from the 19th century, a handwritten page headed with a photograph details the activities of a young “courtesan” called Sarah Bernhardt.

The Book of Courtesans, as it was known by the then equivalent of the vice squad, was a detailed record of high-class sex workers, often actors and dancers, who were the mistresses of princes, aristocrats and the wealthy.

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