Against all possible odds, the fourth edition of the Panorama of European Film has managed to attract a sizeable audience with sold-out screenings, commencing in a week when all cultural activities in the nation have been suspended in the wake of last week’s violence against Tahrir demonstrators. Misr International Films’ week-long fest did not have …

By Myriam Ghattas “Manuale D’Am3re” (The Ages of Love, 2011) is a triptych of three love stories told by an observant and meddlesome Cupid (Vittorio Emanuele Propizio) officiating as a taxi driver of love. The stories represent the different ages, or stages, at which humans find and develop love relationships: Youth, maturity and beyond. Giovanni Veronesi, …

“Melancholia,” Lars von Trier’s latest monster, may forever be remembered for the wrong reasons. Jaws dropped when the notorious Danish provocateur joked that he understands Hitler; that he sympathizes with him, that he’s “a Nazi.” The rest, as they say, is history. Von Trier was expelled from the festival shortly afterwards, having been named a …

On Sunday, in a small white box of a room, stark images of the recent revolutionary battles in Libya hung on panels surrounding a large Libyan flag with gold fringe. A TV replayed major news stories from the last year, and students gazed at photos from the Libyan revolution depicting scenes of both horrible violence …

On Nov. 19, Tutankhamun and his tomb made their debut in Frankfurt. Along the river Main, in an impressive hall on Mainzer Landstrasse set up especially for the event, Semmel Concerts, Germany’s leading concert promoter, has organized a festival that celebrates Egyptian culture in a way that even Egyptians themselves will find it challenging to …

Taylor Swift and Adele tied with three wins at the American Music Awards, but the event belonged to the country superstar after she beat the soulful crooner, as well as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Lil Wayne, to win artist of the year, the ceremony’s highest accolade, which the 21-year-old singer-songwriter previously claimed in 2009. …

By Myriam Ghattas “My name is Rodica Marcau. I am from the Timisoara Co-op store. I defended the store on Sunday. The Securitate shot at us on our way home. Some were arrested and tortured. They were beaten with riffle-butts. I am bedridden now but…I wish to join the youth of Timisoara and Bucharest and of …

By Joseph Fahim Last May, the Cannes Film Fest hosted the world premiere of “Le gamin au vélo” (The Kid with a Bike), the latest picture by Belgium’s greatest filmmakers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Cannes has become the expected home for the Dardenne Brothers, selecting their previous four films in its main competition. Their track record …

In 1973, a ground-breaking experiment in animal language acquisition was set up by Columbia professor, Herbert Terrace, to examine whether apes can communicate with humans using sign language. The subject of the experiment was a new-born baby chimpanzee named by the researchers Nim Chimpsky, who was taken away from his mother and placed in the …

  It’s a great feat for an Egyptian exhibition to become an international traveling show. Three of Egypt’s young photographers are doing just that; following a successful show in Vienna, they are taking their “To Egypt with Love” exhibition to Germany on Thursday.   Soon after January 25, Safar Khan Gallery hosted “To Egypt with …

A Hollywood-China movie production venture that plans to make big budget films for worldwide audiences has been cleared for an infusion of $220.5 million from an unlikely source — a construction company. Shareholders of Hong Kong’s Paul Y. Engineering Ltd. on Tuesday approved the investment in the joint venture that is also aimed at China’s …

Twenty years ago, a retired Malian portrait photographer called Seydou Keita sat at home in Bamako, quietly tinkering with his motorbike, when a Paris art dealer came knocking on his door. Today, a decade after his death, Keita is perhaps Africa’s most revered photographer, and his stylish studio snaps are a highlight of this year’s …

In the wave of recent photography books from AUC press about the revolution, the automatic tendency is to celebrate the actions of Egyptians usually referred to as “everyday” or “ordinary” Egyptians, and, similarly, “the Egyptian street.” Books of writing about the revolution will take longer, as January is not really history yet, and one can …

A sensational discovery 89 years ago by archaeologist Howard Carter turned the unknown pharaoh Tutankhamun into an international superstar. For years, Tutankhamun, his treasures and his tomb have been touring the globe with an ambassador-like presence in each city he visits. Starting on Nov. 19 and running through April 2012 in Frankfurt, Germany, Tutankhamun takes …

An illustrated book describing Canada’s vast wilds, masked medicine men and a missionary’s taming of bears at the onset of European colonization will hit bookstores on Saturday — three centuries after it was written. The manuscript titled "The Natural History of the New World" and a separate codex of drawings, were penned around 1675 by …

The Leonardo DiCaprio sitting inside an empty soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot on a sunny November afternoon looks very little like J. Edgar Hoover — his title role in Clint Eastwood’s new biopic of the longtime FBI director. On this day, DiCaprio looks relaxed and comfortable, lean and handsome. In "J. Edgar," he’s anything …

BEIRUT: Two Syrian theater actors known for their plays mocking authority headed to Egypt on Thursday, fleeing possible arrest in their country but vowing to pursue their pro-democracy struggle. Mohamed and Ahmed Malas, 29-year-old twin brothers, left to Cairo from Beirut, where they had been living in hiding for the past month. The two brothers …

By Mark Kennedy / AP It sounded like an impossible task: Write a play about gay marriage that can only have a few characters. Oh, and make it about 10 minutes long. Such was the mission for nine playwrights that included Neil LaBute, Paul Rudnick, Doug Wright and Moises Kaufman. They had been asked to write …

If you have never stepped into the world of the late great Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, it is time you discover what you have been missing. Directing over 40 films and documentaries in his lifetime, Chahine left behind a staggering body of work and a legacy that continues to inspire the development of Egyptian cinema …

Revolutions have a way of sticking with you – emotions run high, change is imminent and the sense of possibility is euphoric. The images of Egypt’s January uprising were striking, forever engraining the momentous events in the memories of those who witnessed them and captivating the world’s attention for weeks. “Egyptian Freedom Story: 25th of …

By Maurice Chammah Last Sunday the Jordanian jazz bassist Yacoub Abu Ghosh led his band through a set at the Cairo Jazz Club, a seemingly required stop on any local tour. Despite the holiday, the dark, smoky room had nearly reached capacity when the band, which includes two drummers, and a second bassist, took the stage. …

Mai and Amane, Arab Israeli teenagers living in Nazareth, are happy to leave talk about boys and make-up to their peers. They have a political message and they’re telling it through rap music. The girls, only 15 and 16, make up the duo "Damar" — Arabic for "destruction" — whose mission is to expose what …

Seven years ago, Jenne Giles was a San Francisco painter and sculptor who didn’t know felting existed. Now she works almost exclusively in the medium, stretching the possibilities of felt in fashion. There’s a soft-sculpture aspect to wet felting that is attractive to Giles, who sells her ruffled scarves in museum gift shops and online …

High-school biology teacher Alexis Jenni on Wednesday won France’s top literary award, the Goncourt Prize, for his first novel, "L’art francais de la guerre" (The French Art of War). The prize was announced by the Goncourt panel of literary bigwigs at the chic Drouant restaurant in Paris. The adventure story, a reflection on the heritage …