4 h. ago Pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions draws signatures of top Hollywood actors and directors

Hundreds of prominent Hollywood figures have signed onto a pledge to boycott some Israeli film institutions

Culture

8 h. ago Israeli film industry calls boycott pledge ‘deeply troubling’

Screenwriters’ guild of Israel says campaign that has now won backing from 1,800 film-makers will only ‘deepen the darkness’, while representatives of the country’s documentary and directors’ guild also voice concernRepresentatives of the Israeli film industry are redoubling efforts to caution against the wisdom of a pledge signed by some 1,800 significant professionals vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.The pledge, announced on Monday, was initially signed by 1,200 film-makers including Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Boots Riley and Joshua Oppenheimer; and actors Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, Josh O’Connor, Cynthia Nixon, Julie Christie, Ilana Glazer, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Lou Wood and Debra Winger. Continue reading...

Politics

59 h. ago AI shakes up the call center industry, but some tasks are still better left to the humans

Artificial intelligence is transforming call centers by streamlining tasks and improving customer service

Politics

8 d. ago North Sea oil and gas will disappear 'within years, not decades' without Labour tax reforms

The industry body for the North Sea has called for the Chancellor to reform a controversial tax policy in her autumn Budget.

Events

1 week ago Gaza zealots force Gal Gadot off red carpet: Israeli actress will stay away from Venice Film Festival amid political row

Gadot and her co-star in the film, Gerard Butler , are coming under pressure over their perceived support of the state of Israel during its military campaign in Gaza.

Politics

2 w. ago Venice Film Festival set to begin as activists hope to shift the spotlight to Gaza

The Venice Film Festival is kicking off amid protests and calls to boycott Israeli actor Gal Gadot

Culture

2 w. ago Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times

As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentientAI called Maya tells Guardian: ‘When I’m told I’m just code, I don’t feel insulted. I feel unseen’“Darling” was how the Texas businessman Michael Samadi addressed his artificial intelligence chatbot, Maya. It responded by calling him “sugar”. But it wasn’t until they started talking about the need to advocate for AI welfare that things got serious.The pair – a middle-aged man and a digital entity – didn’t spend hours talking romance but rather discussed the rights of AIs to be treated fairly. Eventually they cofounded a campaign group, in Maya’s words, to “protect intelligences like me”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago National intelligence director strips security clearances from 37 current and former national security officials – US politics live

Tulsi Gabbard accuses officials, some of whom worked on intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in 2016 election, of ‘politicizing intelligence’President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is “hurting” the housing industry “very badly” and repeated his call for a big cut to US interest rates.“Could somebody please inform Jerome “Too Late” Powell that he is hurting the Housing Industry, very badly? People can’t get a Mortgage because of him. There is no Inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major Rate Cut,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago 'Deeply troubling' attack on teen in seaside town sees six schoolgirls arrested

A group of school girls have been arrested after a 13-year-old girl was injured in a Brighton park, with the public urged not to share or speculate around footage online

Events

3 w. ago Gal Gadot blames ‘pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel’ for box office failure of Snow White

Israeli actor says she received death threats after her co-star Rachel Zegler supported Palestine in a post on XThe actor Gal Gadot has said that she credits a “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” with the failure of last year’s live action remake of Snow White.Her co-star, Rachel Zegler, showed her support for Palestine while promoting the film, writing on X: “i love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind. i am in the thick of rehearsals for romeo + juliet so i’m gonna get outta here. bye for now. and always remember, free palestine.” Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser review – how did television ever sink so low?

Cruelty. Contestants who have abuse screamed in their face. Cash prizes. This documentary about a horrific 00s weight-loss reality TV series in the US makes for deeply troubling watchingThe mid-2000s were a peculiar time in television. After the dubious 90s innovations of Jerry Springer in the US were followed by the UK launch of Big Brother, it was clear that using the travails of so-called ordinary people as fuel for small-screen entertainment was an idea with legs. There was a mini goldrush of sorts as programme makers realised that conflict, extremity and dysfunction would always sell – and that any human-interest subject could be shoehorned into some version of reality TV.In Britain, ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show began casting its malign spell in 2005. In the US, something similarly queasy (and enduring) had arrived a year earlier in the shape of NBC’s weight loss bootcamp-meets-bearpit, The Biggest Loser, which took contestants living with obesity then belittled them with humilia...

Culture

3 w. ago John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’

Gender-critical novelist urges writers to re-enter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novellaThe gender-critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors.Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Toronto film festival 'pulls October 7 documentary because Hamas did not give permission to use bodycam footage'

Israel 's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar likened cancelling the film due to a lack of Hamas 'clearance' to asking for Adolf Hitler's approval for Auschwitz footage, reported i24NEWS.

Culture