3 h. ago Iranian director Jafar Panahi wins Palme d’Or at Cannes for It Was Just an Accident

Panahi, long censored and previously imprisoned in his home country, took top prize as Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent also honouredThe dissident Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi has won the top prize at the Cannes film festival for his drama It Was Just an Accident, inspired by his stints of imprisonment at the hands of the Iranian government.The film was the first made by the director after a ban on film-making was lifted – although he has continued to direct despite being expressly forbidden to do so. In 2011, a year after his first arrest, a copy of his drama This Is Not a Film was snuck into Cannes on a USB stick hidden in a cake. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Elle Fanning is the epitome of elegance in a blue ruffled gown as she joins glamorous Simone Ashley, Halle Berry and Cate Blanchett at the star

The American actress, 24, was the epitome of elegance as she took to the red carpet in a pale blue ruffled gown.

Politics

6 h. ago Cannes Film Festival is hit by blackout caused by 'sabotage' as police hunt perpetrators

The Cannes Film Festival was briefly brought to a halt following a major power outage that has struck south-eastern France just hours after a fire at an electrical substation overnight.

Events

7 h. ago Sabotage suspected as Cannes Film Festival struck by major power outage

Cause of the widespread outage is under investigation, with foul play reportedly suspected

Culture

8 h. ago AP PHOTOS: Highlights from Day 12 of the Cannes Film Festival

Much of the cinema world has descended on the Cannes Film Festival as the French Riviera extravaganza holds its 78th edition.

Culture

8 h. ago Miley Cyrus reveals hospital dash over 'brutal' health issue after filming music video

Miley Cyrus spoke to Jimmy Kimmel about her health amid promoting her new film Something Beautiful, which accompanies her album of the same name, earlier this week

Culture

9 h. ago ‘A case study on psychosis’: men on why Tim Robinson’s Friendship feels a little too real

‘I was so incredibly uncomfortable,’ one man said of watching the new cringe comedy starring Robinson and Paul RuddFriendship is a nightmare – especially if you’re a guy.The new film, starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, follows middle-aged Craig (Robinson), who spends every night sitting alone, in the same chair, until he makes friends with his neighbor Austin (Rudd). But their joint adventures end in a friendship breakup, essentially because Craig is too weird. (Warning: mild spoilers ahead.) Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Nathaniel Parker performs Anthem for Doomed Youth Poem by Wilfred Owen – video

The actor reads a poem in memory of Derek Jarman, who was the first director to cast him in a film - as Wilfred Owen in War Requiem. The film is part of a series to mark Celebration Day 2025 – a new annual moment, held on the last bank holiday Monday of May, to honour and celebrate those who have shaped our lives but are no longer with us. Directed by Oliver Parker at Abbey Road Studios, curated by Allie Esiri and published exclusively by the Guardian. On Celebration Day, join in by sharing your memories using #ShareYourStar• ‘He lived inside poetry’: Toby Jones and Helena Bonham Carter perform poems in memory of lost loved ones• Susan Wokoma performs What If This Road by Sheenagh Pugh – video Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Creators behind new British comedy react to ‘mad’ Richard Curtis praise

Curtis has hailed the comedy as ‘one of the greatest British films of all time’

Politics

10 h. ago Power outage hits Cannes Film Festival and traffic in southeastern France

A major power outage has hit southeastern France, disrupting traffic and briefly halting events at the Cannes Film Festival as the prestigious event prepared to hand out its top prize

Events

10 h. ago Any trade deal with US must be based on ‘respect not threats’, says EU commissioner

Maroš Šefčovič’s remarks come after pace of talks prompted Trump to propose 50% tariff on goods from blocThe European Union’s trade chief has struck a defiant tone after Donald Trump threatened to place a 50% tariff on all goods from the bloc, saying any potential trade deal between Brussels and Washington must be based on “respect not threats”.The US president made his statement after voicing frustration with the pace of progress on a trade agreement with the EU. The new rates would come into effect from 1 June. Continue reading...

Events

10 h. ago Hush over Hollywood: why has it become so hard to make films in Los Angeles?

The drop in productions is causing alarm – can Tinseltown halt the exodus and reclaim its spot as the home of movie-making?When Adam Scott was working on the hit TV show Parks and Recreation in the early 2010s, the Los Angeles studio where the show was filmed was packed – “every stage was filled and working”.These days, he told his former co-star Rob Lowe in a much-discussed recent podcast conversation, “it’s quiet over there” – in part because “it’s just too expensive to shoot here”. Continue reading...

Culture

11 h. ago Michelle Keegan looks out of this world in a stylish white and black co

Michelle Keegan looked out of this world in a stylish white and black co-ord as she sipped on cocktails during Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.

Events

11 h. ago Critics say the movement to defund the police failed. But Austin and Seattle are seeing progress

The rallying cry from 2020 Black Lives Matter protests pushed some US cities to divert money towards housing and community servicesAfter George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, protesters who swarmed the streets across the US shouted the refrain: “Defund the police.” An idea that was once viewed as radical – to redirect money from law enforcement to other city departments and social services – became a rallying cry overnight.As a result of continued pressure, dozens of jurisdictions throughout the nation promised to reduce their police budgets. While most of them backtracked and increased law enforcement funding in the next year or two, several cities changed policies or added new public safety and homeless services departments. Continue reading...

Events

12 h. ago Cannes Film Festival chaos as city is hit by power cut hours before awards ceremony

The city of Cannes, which is currently hosting the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, has been struck by a power cut hours before the Palme d’Or is due to take place

Events

12 h. ago Peter Andre admits Jafaican has 'hidden message' that will make fans double take

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Andre has exclusively told Daily Star that his new film Jafaican has a "hidden message" that many people won't notice during their first time watching

Politics

12 h. ago Braveheart at 30: Mel Gibson’s gory, hokey Oscar winner plays like a biblical epic

The 1995 best picture winner is less interested in historical fact and more in rousing fantasy and makes for a telling portrait of its troubled makerFor a storied best picture Oscar winner and dorm-wall poster staple of the 1990s and beyond, it’s a little surprising how modest Braveheart’s success was when it opened in theaters 30 years ago. Though it powered through a mild opening to become a solid summer hit, on the 1995 charts it sits below Father of the Bride Part II and Congo (though congratulations are in order; it did edge out both Grumpier Old Men and Mortal Kombat). Even among other Mel Gibson vehicles from the 90s, you might be surprised to learn that Maverick, Conspiracy Theory and Payback all posted stronger numbers.But Braveheart stuck around, both in theaters and in the public consciousness. It wasn’t necessarily tipped as an awards contender at the time of release – Gibson had only directed one other movie, a small-scale drama called The Man Without a Face – but wound...

Politics

13 h. ago Russell Mael: ‘Describe myself in three words? One handsome dude’

The Sparks singer on shoplifting red liquorice as a child, a head-to-head with Godzilla, and underselling his life storyBorn in California, Russell Mael, 76, and his brother, Ron, first recorded under the names the Urban Renewal Project and Halfnelson, before becoming Sparks in 1972. Two years later, they relocated to London and had a hit with their song This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us. More recently, they composed a radio opera, The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, collaborated with Franz Ferdinand in supergroup FFS, and released a film, Annette, which won five César awards in 2022. Their 28th studio album is Mad! and their tour comes to the UK in June. Mael lives in California.What was your most embarrassing moment? Signing away the rights to my life story to a major motion-picture company for a sum that I have since been told was way below the market rate. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago We have a chance to prevent AI decimating Britain’s creative industries – but it’s slipping away | Beeban Kidron

The government has doubled down on a plans that would allow mass cultural theft, but we are fighting it at every stageBeeban Kidron is a film director and crossbench peer in the House of LordsFor months now, legends of music, literature, product design, the visual arts and more have been sounding the alarm about the British government’s plan to undermine copyright law. The fight kicked off when the government launched a consultation into regulating artificial intelligence with its own “preferred” outcome: letting AI companies steal copyrighted work by default unless the owners of that work “opt out”. But opting out is impossible to do without AI transparency. The plan is a charter for theft, since creatives would have no idea who is taking what, when and from whom.When the government stoops to a preferred outcome that undermines the moral right to your work and income, you might reasonably be angered. As Elton John said last weekend: “The government have no right to do this to my so...

Events

15 h. ago ‘They first come for great acts of culture’: Cate Blanchett sets up grant for displaced film

Actor and UN refugee ambassador gives warning about authoritarian regimes at launch of film fundAuthoritarian regimes “first come for great acts of culture” when they start to curtail civil liberties, Cate Blanchett warned as she launched a new grant for displaced film-makers.The two-time Oscar winner and goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), has teamed up with the international film festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) Hubert Bals Fund to set up the Displacement Film Fund, which will support displaced film-makers or those with experience in refugee storytelling. Continue reading...

Culture