Israeli settlers set up tents in West Bank's Masafer Yatta
Israeli settlers regularly carry out attacks targeting communities in Masafer Yatta, a Palestinian community featured in the 2024 documentary No Other Land that won an Oscar in 2025 for Best Documentary.
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Gulf Today
12 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grazia' to open Venice Film Festival
Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino will open this year's Venice Film Festival with his new movie "La Grazia", organisers said on Friday. Sorrentino, 55, is known for films such as "Il Divo", "The Great Beauty" and "The Hand of God", a deeply personal movie about losing his parents as a teenager, which took the runner-up Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 festival. "La Grazia" ("Grace"), which Sorrentino also wrote, will screen in competition at this year's event, which kicks off on August 27 and takes place on the Venice Lido, a thin barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon. It stars his longtime collaborator Toni Servillo and actress Anna Ferzetti. Little is known about the film. Sorrentino has previously been quoted as saying he and Servillo wanted to make a Francois Truffaut-style love story. "Paolo Sorrentino's return in competition comes with a film destined to leave its mark for its great originality and powerful relevance to the present time," the festival's artistic director Alberto Barbera said in a statement. The Naples-born Sorrentino debuted his first feature film, "One Man Up", in Venice in 2001. He has also previously presented the first episodes of his television series "The Young Pope" at the festival. "The Great Beauty", about an ageing writer's reflections on life and his search for meaning among Rome's idle rich, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014. Sorrentino picked up his second Oscar nomination for "The Hand of God". The 82nd Venice Film Festival will run from August 27 to September 6. Reuters
Filipino Times
20 hours ago
- Filipino Times
‘Squid Game' ending aimed to critique capitalism — Hwang
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has clarified that the series finale was not designed to launch a U.S.-based spin-off, but rather to reinforce the show's core message about late-stage capitalism. The third and final season of the globally acclaimed Netflix series ended with a surprise cameo by Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who appeared as a mysterious recruiter based in Los Angeles. The scene quickly sparked speculation that the franchise was setting the stage for an expansion outside South Korea. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hwang said the scene was intended to serve a thematic purpose. 'As for the last scene, while the games in Korea have ended with the destruction of the game arena as a result of Gi-hun sacrificing himself, I wanted to highlight that the system isn't easily dismantled — it doesn't simply collapse just because one part of it is destroyed,' he said. Hwang emphasized that the finale was meant to underscore the series' broader critique of late-stage capitalism, noting that entrenched systems of power persist even after individual elements fall. While rumors have circulated that Fight Club director David Fincher may be developing a U.S.-based adaptation of Squid Game, Hwang said he has not been officially informed of any such project by Netflix. Nevertheless, the filmmaker expressed openness to future developments. 'So I think, maybe, someday, if the opportunity allows and the timing is right, maybe there's room for other stories,' he added.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Middle East Eye
Gary Lineker: BBC 'should hang its head in shame' over shelved Gaza documentary
Veteran BBC presenter Gary Lineker said that the British broadcaster "should hang its head in shame" after watching Gaza: Medics Under Fire, a documentary originally commissioned, then dropped by the news corporation. Speaking after a screening of the film in London on Thursday, the BBC's former Match of the Day presenter said it was "one of the most important films" he'd seen. "It really did need to be seen, I think everyone would agree with that," he added. The documentary tells the stories of Palestinian doctors and health workers working in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and lays out allegations that the Israeli army systematically targeted hospitals and medical staff in the besieged strip throughout its military campaign. The BBC announced that it had dropped the film in June after a months-long delay due to impartiality concerns. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC," it said in a statement. 'The BBC should hang its head in shame.' Former footballer and broadcaster Gary Lineker has criticised the BBC for censoring the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, produced by Basement Films, after watching it — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 4, 2025 But many critics said the BBC's decision was an act of censorship, and that it capitulated to pressure to block a film detailing Israel's conduct on the besieged Palestinian enclave - actions like targeting health workers and hospitals, which would amount to grave violations of international law. The film was eventually picked up by Channel 4, where it aired on Wednesday, and Zeteo. This is a very hard watch, it's extremely rare to have a documentary released about Gaza on commercial TV, most have been shelved and censored, particularly by the BBC, who refused to broadcast this. Utterly horrific. — Ben Parsons (@benparsons76) July 3, 2025 Lineker also said the public broadcaster had "declined" in the past two years during Israel's war on Gaza. "I've defended it and defended it against claims that it is partial. It talks about impartiality all the time," he said. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack: Powerful documentary exposes Israel's deliberate targeting of medics Read More » "The truth is at the moment, at the very top of the BBC, not the BBC all over... we're seeing it on our phones everyday. The problem is they're bowing to pressure from the top and this is a worry." It isn't the first time the BBC's former Match of the Day presenter has slammed the broadcaster for censorship. Lineker was among 500 prominent figures in the entertainment industry who called on the BBC to restore a documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was aired in November, only to be dropped four days later. The signatories accused the broadcaster of politically motivated censorship following an intense campaign by pro-Israel groups and rival British media outlets, who alleged the documentary promoted 'Hamas propaganda'. 'Unprecented war crimes' Gaza: Medics Under Fire, which presents personal accounts of the detention, torture and death of medical workers on the frontline, has sent shockwaves online. "No sane person could watch Gaza Doctors under Attack and have a shred of respect for the state of Israel," said one user. A British doctor said: 'now you understand why they [BBC] didn't want you to see…the documentary'. 'Britain sends weapons to 'Israel.' Britain sends RAF spy planes over Gaza. Britain calls 'Israel' an ally' she added in a post on X. Now you understand why they didn't want you to see the Gaza: Medics Under Fire documentary. Our family cried through every moment of it. We recognised each face, each massacre, each heartbreak. To know that we directly pay for this is unbearable. Britain sends weapons to… — Dr Rahmeh Aladwan (@doctor_rahmeh) July 2, 2025 Historian William Dalrymple, said the film "shows the reason why Israel will not let journalists in: the unprecedented war crimes that the IDF commit everyday". Released by @zeteo_news today, this documentary is a must watch. Once you do, you'll realize why the BBC refused to show it. It shows Israel's systematic destruction of Gaza's healthcare system, attacks on hospitals, and targeting, detaining and torturing doctors and medics. — Assal Rad (@AssalRad) July 2, 2025 Others invited viewers of the documentary to demand the BBC explain its partiality claim about the film. "The BBC said Gaza: Doctors Under Attack fell below the standards the British public expects of the broadcaster," said British journalist Hamza M Syed. "If you watched the documentary tonight on @Channel4 and felt otherwise, you should demand to know how and why the BBC came to that conclusion."
