Latest news with #culturalconflict
Arab News
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
India-Pakistan conflict hits shared love of film, music
LAHORE: While conflict raged between the powerful militaries of India and Pakistan, a battle was also fought on the cultural front lines despite years of shared love for films and music. The deadly fighting in early May — the worst in decades — affected artists previously untouched by animosity between their leaders. Ali Gul Pir, a Pakistani rapper and comedian with a huge Indian following, released a song years ago mocking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While he was spared consequences then, in May, his YouTube channel and Instagram profile were blocked in India. 'Indians now recognize that the digital space serves as a bridge between Pakistanis and Indians, and they seem intent on severing that connection,' Pir told AFP. The collapse in bilateral relations was caused by a deadly April attack on tourists in India-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denied the allegation and, after tit-for-tat diplomatic retaliation, their militaries fought for four days before a ceasefire was reached. The conflict hit the music industry for the first time, with Pakistani singer Annural Khalid also remembering how her Indian following dropped off. 'Delhi was my top listening city before the ban,' said Khalid, who has 3.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. 'I suffered a great loss in the audience' from India, she told AFP. 'Listeners were deprived of content because music was turned into something it is not,' Khalid added. The conflict also scrubbed out some prior exchanges, such as the soundtrack of the 2017 film 'Raees' on Spotify in India. It now shows only Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan, without his Pakistani co-star Mahira Khan. With Pakistan producing just a handful of movies each year under strict censorship rules, Bollywood has always proven popular among viewers. 'I grew up watching Bollywood. We have the same traumas, we have the same history, we have the same stories,' said Pakistani film critic Sajeer Shaikh. Pakistani actors and directors have for decades seen making it to Bollywood as the ultimate recognition. But this month, Indian star Diljit Dosanjh announced his latest movie, 'Sardaar Ji 3,' which features four Pakistani actors, would be released 'overseas only,' after New Delhi banned Pakistani content and artists from productions. 'Abir Gulaal,' a love story starring Pakistan's Fawad Khan and Indian actor Vaani Kapoor, was scheduled to hit Indian cinemas on May 9 but the release was postponed. Even some in the industry who had previously backed the cross-border artistic trade changed their tune last month. 'Everything should be banned... cricket, films, everything,' said Indian actor Suniel Shetty, who has a big fan following in Pakistan. He starred in the 2004 movie 'Main Hoon Na,' which subtly promotes peace between India and Pakistan. 'It's something really unfortunate about politics, creating that rift and putting boundaries around art,' said Dua Zahra, assistant manager at Warner Bros South Asia's music label in Pakistan. As part of its measures in the wake of the Kashmir attack, New Delhi's ban on some Pakistani YouTube channels included private broadcaster HUM TV. The channel, which says around 40 percent of its viewers are from India, simply told its fans to use a VPN to continue watching. Since Modi took office more than a decade ago, many Indian critics and filmmakers have warned that Bollywood is now increasingly promoting his government's Hindu nationalist ideology. While the conflict has created divisions on the cultural scene, there are signs that the trade will endure. Over a month after the ceasefire, three Indian films were in the top 10 on Netflix Pakistan, while the top 20 trending songs in India included two Pakistani tracks. Pir, the rapper and comedian, vowed to 'bridge gaps.' 'Let's not make war, let's just make art,' he said. 'Let's just not bomb each other.'
National Post
23-06-2025
- General
- National Post
Nigel Biggar: Is Canada really built on 'stolen' land?
Article content While natural moral rules such as these do provide a framework for governing interactions in the absence of commonly recognized law, they're much more contingent and less stable than legal rights. This is because whether I respect your freedom or invade it depends on whether I estimate that you have more than you need and I have less. Even if I make my estimate conscientiously, your estimate might well differ from mine and there is no overarching authority to arbitrate between us. What's more, not everyone is conscientious and some — whatever their skin colour or ethnicity — will be propelled by greed or by the unfair, egoistic assumption that the life of someone else is worth less than their own. Article content To this already unstable mix must be added the incomprehension, uncertainty, mistrust and fear that naturally arise when two culturally alien peoples, speaking entirely different languages, collide with one another. Under such volatile conditions — and in the absence of any commonly restraining law — friction, conflict, defeat and conquest are, tragically, almost inevitable. Article content Almost, but not entirely. Sometimes, it suits alien peoples to co-operate because they have reciprocal interests. In a new study of early relations between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and Indigenous peoples on the coast of British Columbia, 'The Vancouver Island Treaties and the Evolving Principles of Indigenous Title,' the historian Ted Binnema reveals that land itself was not a bone of contention. While the company wanted to trade and gain access to natural resources, the Natives wanted the goods and opportunities that the British brought — including blankets, weapons, wage-labour and medical services. Article content They also wanted security. The peoples of the Pacific Northwest subsisted on salmon, which perishes quickly unless processed. Processing was labour-intensive, requiring far more work than women alone could provide. So, all of them depended on slave-labour. Consequently, slave-raiding and war were endemic. The HBC, however, made it clear that it wouldn't tolerate warfare on its doorstep. As a result, the Native peoples coveted the security and status that proximity to the company's trading posts offered. And when the foreigners cleared and cultivated land, or mined coal, they had no complaint, for land and the black stuff weren't what mattered most to them. Moreover, when they wanted to establish reservations, the company complied. It wasn't until the HBC first offered compensation in the 1850s that the Natives began to demand it. After all, when one set of them seized from another what did matter — slaves — they weren't in the habit of paying. Article content Article content This reminds us that relations between colonizers and Indigenous peoples weren't always characterized by conflict. In many cases, and for long periods, they co-operated to their mutual benefit. But it also shows us that the value of land differs not only between cultures, but over time. Even if it were true that, in the early 1800s, the territorial expansion of European settlement in British Columbia did deprive Indigenous peoples of their livelihood by trespassing on their fishing or hunting grounds, to surrender huge tracts of territory to them in 2025 is not to unravel history and restore the past. That's because what mattered in the past was not land but subsistence. And British colonization replaced traditional means of subsistence with new alternatives — trading, farming and wage-earning. Now, through the Canadian state, it offers welfare payments, too. Article content In the early 21st century, control over land means something quite different from what it meant in 1800. Its value has changed. Then, it meant access to fishing or hunting grounds and thereby the means of survival. Now, it means the lucrative ownership of resources for exploitation or development, which the Vancouver islanders in the 19th century could not imagine and did not value. So, to grant 'Native title' to Indigenous peoples today is not to uphold a historic legal right, for such a thing didn't exist. Nor is it to restore things to where they were, replacing like with like. It's to create a novel, unequal privilege. Article content Article content Article content
Independent Singapore
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
The Harvest: A genuine portrayal of immigrant families from the set to the big screen
Premiering on June 20, The Harvest brings to the big screen a deeply personal story of generational conflict, cultural expectations, and the quiet strength of family. This family drama follows an Asian son who returns home to his immigrant family to take care of his ailing father, only to confront the weight of cultural tradition and generational trauma. The film stars Doua Moua as the son, Perry Yung as the father, Dawn Ying Yuen as the mother, and Chrisna Chhor as the sister. Photo credit: Courtesy of Doua Moua In an exclusive interview with The Independent Singapore, director Caylee So and actress Dawn Ying Yuen spoke about the authenticity of the film, not just in the story, but in the way each character was brought to life. 'I wanted to bring an authentic Southeast Asian way to it,' said So. 'One of the things Doua and I talked about was that even though the film is from the son's point of view, we wanted the mom and dad to have their own inner life and narrative.' She continued: 'We expanded the script by asking, what's the relationship outside of the dialogue? I didn't want it to be a simple 'parents had a bad childhood' kind of story. I wanted the conflict to be more nuanced — more about differing perspectives rather than right and wrong.' See also Gal Gadot produces Israeli-Palestinian romantic drama The film leans heavily towards the dramatic side of a family's story. When asked how she helped her cast members unleash the emotional aspects of the film, she said, 'You know, in film school, they say that 90 per cent of a director's job is to cast well. So you find collaborators that, when you're on set, you have interesting conversations about the characters.' So shared that despite having limited preparations due to the restrictions of COVID-19 back then, as they filmed, the cast members found their dynamics. 'What I found interesting, though, and what I really enjoyed about working with all four of them was that we were able to find the scenes as we went — we were able to play, I guess you could say,' the director added. Dawn Ying Yuen, who plays the mother, spoke about her experience on filming, saying, 'What I really like about this film is that we were all able to play the role from our perspective. See also Will Smith appears in new sci-fi movie with hi-tech clone Everybody just did their own thing, and then when she [Caylee] brought us together, it just worked. The family dynamics were actually really good, I must say.' Dawn also shared how she relates to her character in some ways, given her life experiences. This has helped her understand where her character is coming from and how she prepared for her role. 'Although I didn't grow up with a mom, I grew up with my unmarried aunt, who helped a lot around the house,' she said. 'I observed her closely — how she acted under stress, how she reacted to situations, and brought those nuances into the role. So I usually surround myself with a lot of older folks, like my aunt and my mother-in-law.' Dawn added, 'So I see a lot of this kind of people who always look very strong and try to pull everybody together, but actually deep down inside they are also going through a lot.' When asked who her character represents in today's society, the actress simply answered: 'The mother who takes care of the family. The mother who has to carry the burden on their shoulder, to make sure everybody is well-taken care of. But you know, at some point, she got burned out. She needed her own space. She needed more than just doing the work. She needed love and compassion from someone.' Photo credit: Courtesy of Doua Moua Through The Harvest , Caylee So wanted the audience to immerse themselves in the film and see themselves in it. 'I hope that we represented an authentic family that is struggling and is confronted with things that everybody is confronted with, and this is specifically how they deal with those challenges. I do hope that the audience relates to it in that way.' Dawn added, 'This film can really educate people who are not from our culture. This is what Asian families are like.' The Harvest is currently available for pre-order for Apple users. You can watch the official trailer here: The film is available for purchase on June 20 on Amazon, Apple TV, and YouTube. Poster credit: Courtesy of Doua Moua
