35 h. ago Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight review – heartfelt child’s

Embeth Davidtz stars and directs, with outstanding performances from Zikhona Bali and seven-year-old Lexi Venter as Bobo as white minority rule endsThe screen actor Embeth Davidtz makes a great feature directing debut with this utterly heartfelt, beautifully shot and meticulously realised movie in which she also stars – clearly a passion project – showing a troubled world through the unjudging eyes of a child. It is an adaptation of Alexandra Fuller’s award-winning memoir of the same name, about her childhood in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in the late 1970s, just before the election that brought Robert Mugabe to power, ended white minority rule and sent a thrill of fear through the world of the white farmers, including her parents, who saw which way the wind of change was blowing.There’s a lovely performance from seven-year-old newcomer Lexi Venter as Bobo, a smudgey-faced little kid left to run ferally and blissfully wild on her family’s disintegrating farm. This is a place where her ...

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41 h. ago Nearly 100 years after her death, Oxford’s first female Indigenous scholar honoured

Mākereti Papakura died weeks before handing in her thesis at Oxford university documenting the life and customs of her tribe, work that is still used by Māori todayMore than 100 years ago, a Māori woman packed up her life as a tour guide and entertainer in New Zealand and set off for England, where she would soon make history by enrolling at Oxford university.In a tragic turn, Mākereti Papakura – believed to be the first woman from an Indigenous community to study at the university – died just weeks before completing her thesis, and in the decades since, her family has fought to have her degree recognised. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Better Days review – modest, honest study of woman trying to grapple with a drinking problem

Valérie Bonneton is terrific in French drama about women in rehab that gets a little carried awayThis French rehab drama begins with some painfully realistic scenes showing the grim slog of maintaining a hidden drinking problem. At night, after her kids go to bed, mum of three Suzanne (Valérie Bonneton) gets a box down from a high cupboard. Inside is her stash of vodka, which she carefully siphons into mineral water bottles for the next day. There is no pleasure in her drinking; it makes her foggy at work and detached from her boys. Bonneton, better known in France for comedy roles, is terrific, with her warm, worn performance, not a scrap of sentimentality in it.Suzanne hits her rock bottom after a car accident; the court puts her sons into the care of their grandparents and orders her into rehab. First comes denial. “Some wine with dinner,” she tells the doctor who asks her about her drinking at the all-female unit. Other residents include Diane (Michèle Laroque), a famous actor w...

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1 week ago Glasgow University student has bid to evacuate family from Gaza rejected by UK government

David Lammy has spoken on a case involving a Gaza woman who is due to study a PhD at Glasgow University.

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4 w. ago Honda e used car review: Joyously fun city EV is a modern day bargain despite modest range

Stunning interior and stylish design mean this second-hand buy remains one of the best looking EVs n the market

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4 w. ago Three Days in June by Anne Tyler audiobook review – a masterclass in marital disharmony

A mother reflects on the breakdown of her marriage as she attends her daughter’s wedding, in a novella that brilliantly depicts family dynamicsAt the start of Three Days in June, Gail Baines, a 61-year-old teacher, has a meeting with her school head, who informs her she is about to retire. Gail assumes she is next in line for the job, but the head tells her she doesn’t have the people skills and asks if she has considered retirement herself. Affronted, she walks out of the school and from her job without collecting the photo on her desk of her daughter, Debbie, who is about to get married. After Gail gets home, her ex-husband, Max, arrives. He is staying with her for the wedding weekend and tells her he has forgotten to bring a suit – although he has brought a cat. Not for the first time, Gail wonders “why it was that I had so many irritating people in my life”.Set in Baltimore, Anne Tyler’s novella spans the before, during and after of Debbie’s wedding. Told through Gail’...

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