6 h. ago ‘As a film lover, I want more’: the Black female directors taking centre stage

The curator of the BFI’s Black Debutantes season on piracy, truncated careers and the frustrations of dealing with big studiosHello and welcome to The Long Wave. This week I spoke to Rógan Graham, a curator of the British Film Institute’s latest season, Black Debutantes: A Collection of Early Works by Black Women Directors. The programme runs throughout May at the BFI Southbank in London, and is a celebration of the feature-length work of Black female film-makers, both the familiar and the seldom screened. Continue reading...

Politics

25 h. ago Could the UK be vulnerable to a nationwide power outage like Spain and Portugal?

‘Be careful what we wish for’ in pivot towards net zero, warns director of Aberdeen University’s Centre for Energy Transition

Politics

37 h. ago Black female WWII unit, 'Six Triple Eight,' to receive congressional honor

The only Black, all-female unit to serve in Europe during World War II, commonly known as the “Six Triple Eight,” will be presented with the Congressional Gold Medal

Events

4 d. ago Son of CIA deputy director was killed while fighting for Russia, report says

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, who died on 4 April 2024, was the son of top-ranking US spy Juliana GallinaAn American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2024 while fighting under contract for the Russian military, according to an investigation by independent Russian media.Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on 4 April 2024 in “Eastern Europe”, according to an obituary published by his family. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2024. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Pandemics, pathogens and being prepared: why the work to identify emerging threats never stops

As the UK Pandemic Sciences Network conference kicks off in Glasgow, virus expert Prof Emma Thomson says new technologies are boosting science’s ability to fight novel strains of infectious diseasesProf Emma Thomson is someone who knows a thing or two about pandemics. As the recently appointed director of the Medical Research Council, University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and a World Heath Organization consultant, Thomson is one of the country’s leading virus experts.“We used to think that pandemics would occur maybe once in our lifetimes. Now, it’s definitely within the next few years. It could even be tomorrow,” she says. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago ‘Be playful, try new things!’ The Southbank Centre’s Mark Ball on his new festival, Multitudes

The arts centre’s artistic director is on a mission to bring new audiences to the joys of classical music. He explains why mixing it with circus, grime, poetry, and film might be the way to do itCan you name the UK’s top five most visited attractions? A 2024 survey placed the British Museum and Natural History Museum in the top two spots, then Windsor Great Park and the Tate Modern. No surprises there. But the fifth is perhaps less expected: the Southbank Centre, with 3.7 million annual visitors.“If you come down in the summer, it’s like a 21st-century version of the Victorian pleasure garden,” says its artistic director, Mark Ball. “It’s like the whole world is here. Skateboarders mixed with poets mixed with the classical musicians, mixed with the dancers – it’s what gives this space its vibrancy and why I love it so much.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘She had no interest in the comfort zone’: celebrating the centenary of Celia Cruz, Cuba’s Queen of Salsa

Exiled from Castro’s Cuba, she became a superstar – and a trailblazer in the macho world of salsa. Fans and collaborators including Angélique Kidjo hail an icon of Black empowermentOn 13 November 1973, at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico, Celia Cruz took to the stage in a bejewelled, psychedelic blue dress and vast afro, saluting the 12,500-capacity arena with her trademark rallying cry: “Azucar!” – sugar.The Cuban singer had been a star for more than two decades by this point, but this concert marked a rebirth. Backed by the Fania All-Stars, the in-house orquesta of the label that brought salsa to the US, Cruz performed Bemba Colorá. Devotees have variously decoded its lyric and “big red lips” metaphor as a repudiation of a neighbourhood gossip, a commentary on anti-Black racism or an anthem for female empowerment. Stretched out to a righteous 12-minute call-and-response in Puerto Rico, she recast the song as a cry of anguish over her exile from her homeland, adding lines l...

Politics

2 w. ago First black female astronaut Mae Jemison scolds CBS News anchor live on TV for using the term 'mankind'

Dr Mae Jemison corrected CBS' Vladimir Duthiers after he made the slip while asking about the significance of Monday's Blue Origin mission.

Politics

3 w. ago Fans are stunned at heartthrob's real accent in steamy Netflix thriller

Jack O'Connell stars in the 2022 film adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover, alongside Emma Corrin, and the Derby born-and-bred actor is closer to home than ever in this role

Politics

3 w. ago At least 13 people dead after roof collapse at Dominican Republic nightclub

Crews search for survivors after more than 70 injured at Jet Set in Santo DomingoAt least 13 people have died and more than 70 have been injured after a roof fell at a nightclub in the capital of the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, the authorities have said.Juan Manuel Méndez, the director of the emergency operations centre, said crews had been searching for potential survivors in the rubble at Jet Set in Santo Domingo. Continue reading...

Events

last month Halle Berry says Oscars not designed for black female actors ‘so we have to stop coveting them’

The only black female actor to have won the leading actress award was speaking on documentary Number One on the Call Sheet along with Taraji P Henson and Whoopi GoldbergHalle Berry has said she now believes her historic Oscars in 2002, for Monster’s Ball, was an anomaly, and that fellow black female actors should therefore stop “coveting” Academy Awards.Berry, now 58, is the only black woman to have won the leading actress Oscar in the awards’ nearly 100 year history. Cynthia Erivo’s nomination for Wicked earlier this year marks the first time a woman of colour has been nominated for the leading actress Oscar more than once (she was previously nominated for Harriet). Only 15 black women have ever been in contention for the prize. Continue reading...

Politics