7 h. ago 'Unhinged' horror starring Oscar winner now free to watch as Stephen King calls it 'best I've seen'

The psychological horror film has been called 'disturbing' and 'unhinged'

Events

4 d. ago Academy apologises for failure to back Palestinian Oscar winner over attack

Letter signed by 700 members offers support to Hamdan Ballal after initial statement had failed to name directorThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apologised after criticism for its failure to support the detained Palestinian Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal.Almost 700 voting members, including multiple A-list actors, signed a letter apologising for not directly acknowledgingBallal and the film by name. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Academy apologises for ignoring No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal despite Oscar win

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apologised for its failure to support detained Palestinian Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal

Politics

4 d. ago Inside Israel’s ‘torture’ jails where Palestinians held without charge tell of brutal treatment

A special investigation by Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew reveals allegations of brutal treatment of Palestinians in Israeli facilities including rape, torture, medical neglect and death. Israel rejects all accusations of wrong-doing

Politics

4 d. ago Video obtained by AP shows settler assault on small Palestinian village with rare clarity

Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the southern Israeli-occupied West Bank

Events

5 d. ago ‘This is no isolated event’: attack on Palestinian director brings rising settler violence into focus

Activists fear unprecedented levels of violence, with the apparent backing of Israeli authorities, part of drive to force Palestinians out of the West BankIt was around 6pm, just after its Palestinian residents had finished their daily Ramadan fast, dozens of masked Israeli settlers, armed with batons, knives and assault rifles, entered the West Bank village of Susiya in the rural Masafer Yatta area of the south Hebron hills. Among them were a group of Israeli soldiers who escorted the settlers into the village where Hamdan Ballal, one of the four directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, lives.About three weeks after appearing on stage at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles to accept the Oscar, Ballal has become the victim of the very violence shown in his film. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Will Smith’s rap comeback could be a sign of a career in freefall

Three years after the slap seen and heard around the world, the Oscar winner is performing in Scarborough and releasing an album of inspirational hip-hop. Has it all gone wrong for one of our biggest stars, asks Ed Power

Politics

5 d. ago Will Smith’s resurrected rap career could be a sign of a career in freefall

Three years after the slap seen and heard around the world, the Oscar winner is performing in Scarborough and releasing an album of inspirational hip-hop. Has it all gone wrong for one of our biggest stars, asks Ed Power

Politics

5 d. ago From the Oscars to Israeli detention: the attack on No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal – podcast

What does the attack on an Oscar-winning Palestinian director say about the situation in the West Bank today? Adrian Horton and Lorenzo Tondo reportEarlier this month, No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary feature. The film chronicles the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta as it resists being driven off its land by settler violence and the demolitions of the Israeli military. The film’s two protagonists, Palestinian film-maker Basel Adra and Israeli film-maker Yuval Abraham, gave speeches when they accepted their award.Yuval Abraham: “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.” Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago It took an Oscar winner’s ordeal for the west to see the truth of settler violence. This is how to stop it | Ofer Cassif

I have spent years fighting this reign of terror in the West Bank – and Hamdan Ballal’s treatment is typical of itDr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019Imagine a group of a dozen armed men storming your village at nightfall. They assault you and your neighbours, throw stones at your house, beat you. If you try to defend yourself, or document the violence, they attack you. When the military arrive, they detain you. Some of them join in with the violence. This harrowing scene is not a story from Tsarist Russia or Jim Crow America. Last Monday, this was exactly what occurred in the Palestinian village of Susya in the occupied West Bank.The attackers who arrived in Susya were neither Cossacks nor Klansmen but Jewish-Israeli settlers accompanied by soldiers. Indeed, when the attacks commenced, three Palestinians were seized by the Israeli military, detained, and then subjected to police interrogation. Such v...

Economics

6 d. ago It took an Oscar winner’s ordeal for the world to see the truth of settler violence. This is how to stop it | Ofer Cassif

I have spent years fighting this reign of terror in the West Bank – and Hamdan Ballal’s treatment is typical of itDr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019Imagine a group of a dozen armed men storming your village at nightfall. They assault you and your neighbours, throw stones at your house, beat you. If you try to defend yourself, or document the violence, they attack you. When the military arrive, they detain you. Some of them join in with the violence. This harrowing scene is not a story from Tsarist Russia or Jim Crow America. Last Monday, this was exactly what occurred in the Palestinian village of Susya in the occupied West Bank.The attackers who arrived in Susya were neither Cossacks nor Klansmen but Jewish-Israeli settlers accompanied by soldiers. Indeed, when the attacks commenced, three Palestinians were seized by the Israeli military, detained, and then subjected to police interrogation. Such v...

Economics

6 d. ago Geoffrey Rush on Pirates, Pinter and pugs: ‘Just be happy we evolved on this bit of rock’

The Oscar winner answers your questions about playing everyone from Peter Sellers to the Marquis de Sade, his home town of Toowoomba and new care-home horror The Rule of Jenny PenThe Rule of Jenny Pen looks terrifying! Does the prospect of sudden ageing frighten you? BenderRodriguez It’s not sudden. I was in [King] Lear when I was 64 and said: “I need a wig that’s grey because he’s supposed to be 80.” Now I’m 73 and I still think inside I’m a brunette. This is the 54th year of my career. The last decade has just galloped past. I waited for something like this – a project that I latched on to. There’s been a lot of stuff that I turned down. I’m now being very pernickety about what I commit three or four months of my life to.No doubt there was also a lot of work behind it, but was playing Hector Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean films as much fun as it looked? Have you ever reinhabited the character for a brief moment, to amuse yourself or others? Liam01 Yeah, it was fun. [Dire...

Politics

7 d. ago ‘I thought I was going to die’: director Hamdan Ballal recounts attack by settlers in West Bank

Exclusive: Filmmaker who won an Oscar earlier this month says Israeli settlers were aided by IDF soldiers who beat him with their riflesDuring an attack on Oscar-winning Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal on Monday, Israeli settlers were aided by two Israel Defense Forces soldiers who beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him, the film-maker has said.In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal, one of the four directors of the film No Other Land, which documented the destruction of villages in the West Bank and won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, recounted how two Israeli soldiers first encircled him while a settler was assaulting him, before violently striking him on the head and threatening to shoot him. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago ‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank

Hamdan Ballal says Israeli soldiers beat him with their rifle butts and threatened to kill himThe Oscar-winning Palestinian film director Hamdan Ballal has said that during an attack on him Israeli settlers were aided by two Israeli soldiers who beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him.In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal, one of the four directors of the film No Other Land, which documented the destruction of villages in the West Bank and won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, recounted how on Monday two Israeli soldiers first encircled him while a settler was assaulting him, before violently striking him on the head and threatening to shoot him. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Wes Streeting brands Israel's attacks on the West Bank 'unjustifiable' and demands end to settler violence

Wes Streeting said he felt “powerless” as he spoke about Israeli violence against the Palestinian people

Events

7 d. ago He will make acting debut with support of Oscar winner dad and Wednesday star mom... can you guess the nepo baby?

Both of his parents are Oscar-winning actors with decades-spanning careers working on some of the most famous films to come out of Hollywood.

Politics

7 d. ago Hugh Jackman is unrecognizable as he prepares for major new Hollywood role

Now, after reprising his most famous role in last year's Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Ryan Reynolds , the Oscar nominee and two-time Tony winner has vanished into a new part.

Politics

7 d. ago Channel 4 'disturbed' as director Hamdan Ballal attacked and detained

Hamdan Ballal is one of four filmmakers who directed No Other Land, about the disputed West Bank, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature film earlier this month

Events

8 d. ago ‘Like a punishment’: witnesses describe Israeli settler attack on No Other Land director

Activists from Center for Jewish Nonviolence say Israeli police ‘did not intervene’ in attack on Hamdan BallalIt was shortly after Palestinian residents had finished their daily Ramadan fast that dozens of masked Israeli settlers entered the West Bank village of Susiya, according to witnesses.Some of the settlers were armed with batons, others had knives and one of them was holding an M-16 rifle, the witnesses told the Guardian. Among them were a group of Israeli soldiers who escorted the settlers inside the village. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Kathy Bates reveals embarrassing moment that sparked 100lb weight

The 76-year-old Oscar winner got serious about her health following her diagnosis for type 2 diabetes in 2017, but there was a moment six years prior that truly sparked her weight-loss journey

Politics