https://www.scmp.com/rss/324463/feed Reporting on the most famous and fashionable, and the films, at the annual Cannes Film Festival en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 73rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. In the golden age of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing was a star so bright that he rewrote the rules of conservative Asian society. Affectionately nicknamed Gor Gor – Cantonese for “older brother” – the Cantopop legend’s talent spanned disciplines and extended far beyond the city’s borders. Even now, decades after his death in 2003, fans from around the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:15:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Sean Penn, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for One Battle After Another on Sunday, was in Ukraine on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the war-torn country. An Agence France-Presse reporter saw the Mystic River star getting out of a black car in central Kyiv earlier on Monday, wearing sunglasses and carrying a box of cigarettes. Penn, a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times, on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346801/oscar-winner-sean-penn-skips-academy-awards-ceremony-visit-zelensky-kyiv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346801/oscar-winner-sean-penn-skips-academy-awards-ceremony-visit-zelensky-kyiv?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 17:32:57 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram This may be the year of the abrasive Hollywood heroine. Think of Rose Byrne, who received an Oscar nod for her role as a nerve-frazzled mother in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, or Jennifer Lawrence, kicking up a storm at a family party as she becomes gripped by post-partum psychosis in Die My Love. Alongside them, there are the gun-toting female revolutionaries of One Battle After Another, led by the indefatigable Teyana Taylor. Then there are the women who form the heartbeat of Joachim Trier’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342179/why-joachim-triers-sentimental-value-most-acclaimed-european-film-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342179/why-joachim-triers-sentimental-value-most-acclaimed-european-film-year?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:15:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press One of the Oscar-nominated screenwriters of the Iranian drama It Was Just an Accident has been arrested in Tehran just weeks before the Academy Awards. Representatives for the film on Sunday said Mehdi Mahmoudian was arrested on Saturday. No details on the charges against Mahmoudian were available but his arrest came just days after Mahmoudian and 16 others signed a statement condemning Islamic Republic leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the regime’s violent crackdown on demonstrators. Two other... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342024/screenwriter-oscar-nominated-iranian-drama-it-was-just-accident-arrested-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342024/screenwriter-oscar-nominated-iranian-drama-it-was-just-accident-arrested-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 19:27:01 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim A decade ago, Samantha Ong would go to the cinemas in Singapore twice a week. She now goes about once a month, opting instead to watch films on Netflix at home. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel worth it to spend three hours on a movie, so it’s better to watch it at home where there is an option to fast-forward,” said Ong, 26. “I have to juggle working out and meeting up with friends in my free time, so I’ll go [to the cinema] only if I really want the full experience.” Such shifts in viewing habits... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3338560/why-singapore-betting-international-partnerships-help-its-film-industry-scale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3338560/why-singapore-betting-international-partnerships-help-its-film-industry-scale?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2026 04:00:11 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh In 2025, Asian cinema continues to make its mark around the world. Animated features from mainland China and Hong Kong, as well as Japan, have shattered box office records, while filmmakers and performers from across the region have been honoured at the world’s most prestigious film festivals. From established auteurs to promising newcomers, the region remains a thriving hotbed of rich and diverse commercial and artistic talent. Below are our picks of the 12 best films released this year across... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337826/12-best-asian-films-2025-ranked-ne-zha-2-no-other-choice-and-kokuho?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337826/12-best-asian-films-2025-ranked-ne-zha-2-no-other-choice-and-kokuho?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Imogen Poots has been thinking about a Sam Shepard quote: “People here have become the people they’re pretending to be.” Those 10 words, from a poem in his Motel Chronicles collection, are kind of about her character in Hedda, the quietly courageous Thea. But they are also kind of about everything. After 20 years of acting in films, television and on the stage, Poots is having a clarifying moment. And Shepard’s words somehow get to the heart of it all: the disorienting paradox of attempting to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336192/how-imogen-poots-and-kristen-stewart-gave-their-all-chronology-water?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336192/how-imogen-poots-and-kristen-stewart-gave-their-all-chronology-water?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 07:15:08 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh When director Tsou Shih-ching was a child in Taiwan, her grandfather scolded her for using her left hand, calling it “the devil’s hand”. She vividly remembers the “sense of guilt”, a feeling of “like I did something wrong” that stayed with her for decades. That childhood memory has now become the seed for her solo directorial debut, Left-Handed Girl, a deeply personal film that has become one of the year’s most celebrated. It tells the story of a mother (Janel Tsai) and her two daughters working... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3333239/why-sean-bakers-taiwanese-producer-took-20-years-make-her-debut-film-left-handed-girl?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3333239/why-sean-bakers-taiwanese-producer-took-20-years-make-her-debut-film-left-handed-girl?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 11:45:08 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3.5/5 stars Few Hong Kong films have arrived with as much anticipation as Juno Mak Chun-lung’s Sons of the Neon Night. A hyper-stylised crime thriller with a reported HK$400 million (US$51.4 million) budget and a star-studded cast, it was shot between 2017 and 2018 only to be shelved until its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year. The long delay has only added to the film’s enigmatic aura. Set in an alternate-reality Hong Kong of 1994, so much has transpired in the interim that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3327384/sons-neon-night-movie-review-hong-kong-crime-thriller-striking-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3327384/sons-neon-night-movie-review-hong-kong-crime-thriller-striking-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:15:12 +0000 Ishani Sarkar Ishani Sarkar Milan Fashion Week is officially upon us and all eyes are on Louise Trotter, who will be unveiling her debut collection as creative director of Bottega Veneta. Her predecessor, Paris-born Matthieu Blazy – who has since moved on to Chanel – married craftsmanship with innovation during his tenure. Now, the fashion set is buzzing with curiosity about Trotter’s vision for the Italian luxury house. According to Vogue Business, Trotter has been tasked with capitalising on the impressive momentum set... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3327023/meet-louise-trotter-who-will-make-her-bottega-veneta-debut-milan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3327023/meet-louise-trotter-who-will-make-her-bottega-veneta-debut-milan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Sep 2025 15:00:10 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Even with the film and streaming industries in an upheaval, and too few new titles finding their under-marketed way to theatres this year, the movie summer of 2025 stayed alive. Job one: done. Autumn comes next, and this lovely season has a way of raising our quality expectations. We have the usual quotient of critical successes coming soon, having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. More of these prestige titles will follow suit after first-look appearances at the Venice, Telluride... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3323867/10-films-watch-fall-anemone-nuremberg-and-springsteen-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3323867/10-films-watch-fall-anemone-nuremberg-and-springsteen-biopic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Months have passed since the premiere of his latest work, Highest 2 Lowest, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but US filmmaker Spike Lee is still revelling in the memories of the glitzy May 19 event. “I’ve had a love relationship with the Cannes Film Festival since 1986 – they’ve loved all my films that have been there,” says Lee, 68, speaking on a recent video call from his residence at Oak Bluffs in Martha’s Vineyard, in the US state of Massachusetts. “May 19, 2025, was a continuation of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3321716/us-director-spike-lee-highest-2-lowest-his-latest-movie-denzel-washington?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3321716/us-director-spike-lee-highest-2-lowest-his-latest-movie-denzel-washington?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2025 09:15:09 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein might be the earliest example of body horror, a subgenre of horror that focuses on mutation, destruction and transformation of the human form. These ideas were explored further in classics like The Wolfman and Phantom of the Opera, or intertwined within science fiction in everything from The Fly to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Body horror hit its heyday in the 1980s, where advances in practical effects work helped realise the tactile, sanguineous visions of filmmakers... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3320814/14-best-body-horror-films-last-10-years-old-substance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3320814/14-best-body-horror-films-last-10-years-old-substance?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:45:08 +0000 Sheena Khemaney Sheena Khemaney This has been quite the summer for Italian model Vittoria Ceretti. After having attended the Met Gala, as ever on the first Monday in May, she then appeared at other high-profile events including the Cannes Film Festival in May, the Bezos-Sánchez wedding in Venice in June, and Paris Fashion Week in July. Most recently, the 27-year-old was spotted in Italy with her boyfriend of two years, Leonardo DiCaprio. While in Cannes, Ceretti stunned in an embellished, one-shoulder gown by Giorgio Armani... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/jewellery/article/3320217/how-style-leo-dicaprios-partner-vittoria-ceretti-who-dazzled-messika-cannes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/jewellery/article/3320217/how-style-leo-dicaprios-partner-vittoria-ceretti-who-dazzled-messika-cannes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2025 02:00:10 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Patience is a virtue, they say. Although Peter Chan Ho-sun’s film She’s Got No Name recently debuted in cinemas, it has been nine years since the veteran Hong Kong director first approached Zhang Ziyi to star in it. “She said ‘yes’ almost on the spot,” he says. “With no script, with nothing.” The Chinese actress, who is known for her roles in award-winning films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha, has been scaling back her work of late and spending more time with her... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318273/why-zhang-ziyi-waited-years-play-husband-killer-shes-got-no-name?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318273/why-zhang-ziyi-waited-years-play-husband-killer-shes-got-no-name?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Carolina Malis Carolina Malis When Bella Hadid stepped onto the Cannes red carpet this year with glossy, golden-blonde strands, the message was clear: blonde is back. Achieved with the help of colourist Jacob Schwartz and a 14-hour process, the transformation was anything but subtle: a clear pivot from her usual brunette. After all, Cannes is where celebrities go to reinvent. With the world watching and couture turned up to eleven, the red carpet becomes a stage for beauty debuts. This year, French actress Pom Klementieff’s... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/beauty/trends/article/3317900/blonde-back-baby-bella-hadid-and-kristen-stewart-cannes-beyonce-and-marvels-pom-klementieff-theres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/beauty/trends/article/3317900/blonde-back-baby-bella-hadid-and-kristen-stewart-cannes-beyonce-and-marvels-pom-klementieff-theres?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Douglas Parkes Douglas Parkes Filipino cinema made a resounding statement at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, signalling a potential return to the global stage for a country with a rich, yet often overlooked, cinematic history. Five Filipino-produced films graced the Croisette, including acclaimed director Lav Diaz’s feature-length production Magellan, Japanese co-production Renoir, and short films Bleat! and Ali. The festival marked a historic moment for Filipina filmmakers. Kyla Danelle Romero became the first Filipina... https://www.scmp.com/special-reports/article/3314262/rising-hopes-revival-filipino-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/special-reports/article/3314262/rising-hopes-revival-filipino-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jun 2025 04:22:39 +0000 Fran Lu Fran Lu Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan has made a notable comeback to the media spotlight with her new Hong Kong film, Sons of the Neon Night, which recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. After marrying Taiwanese-Canadian actor Mark Chao in 2014 and welcoming a daughter in 2019, Gao significantly reduced her public exposure, making her return to showbiz especially stunning for fans who observed that she seemed to have not aged at all. Sons of the Neon Night, a Hong Kong dystopian crime thriller,... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3311700/china-goddess-actress-makes-comeback-hong-kong-crime-thriller-stuns-audiences-cannes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3311700/china-goddess-actress-makes-comeback-hong-kong-crime-thriller-stuns-audiences-cannes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 May 2025 06:00:08 +0000 Fran Lu Fran Lu Chinese actress Zhong Chuxi has once again captivated social media with her stunning style at this year’s Cannes Film Festival red carpet. The 32-year-old dazzled in two exquisite Elie Saab gowns – one at the L’Oreal Paris dinner honouring women filmmakers, and the other at the world premiere of the film Dossier 137. This marks Zhong’s third appearance at the prestigious film festival as L’Oreal’s brand ambassador. On Chinese social media, she received an outpouring of praise for her exceptional... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3311411/actress-zhong-chuxi-chinas-new-red-carpet-queen-cannes-fashion-sense-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3311411/actress-zhong-chuxi-chinas-new-red-carpet-queen-cannes-fashion-sense-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 06:00:09 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram The 78th Cannes Film Festival had a bit of everything. Tom Cruise jetted into town for the final Mission: Impossible film. Robert De Niro received an honorary Palme d’Or and spoke out powerfully against the Trump regime. Denzel Washington got snappy with a photographer on the red carpet. But in a year where the stars really did turn out in force, the quality of the films was somewhat mixed, with nothing on the scale of Parasite or Anora that might make it all the way to the Oscars. Still, there... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311851/cannes-2025-10-festivals-best-films-sentimental-value-pillion-and-urchin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311851/cannes-2025-10-festivals-best-films-sentimental-value-pillion-and-urchin?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 May 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, handing the festival’s top prize to a director who had been banned from leaving Iran for more than 15 years. Cate Blanchett presented the award to Panahi, who three years ago was imprisoned in Iran before going on a hunger strike. The crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation for the filmmaker. The win for It Was Just an Accident extend one of the most... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311692/it-was-just-accident-irans-jafar-panahi-wins-cannes-top-prize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311692/it-was-just-accident-irans-jafar-panahi-wins-cannes-top-prize?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 May 2025 18:22:55 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram When Japanese video game company Kotake Create published The Exit 8 in 2023, it became an instant cult hit. Initially released on Steam, and later on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S, Android and iOS, this walking simulator was an utter original. Players find themselves in a Japanese metro subway passageway stuck in an endless loop as they try to figure out clues on how to remove themselves from the hellish trap. It is hard to imagine how this might be adapted into a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311250/exit-8s-director-and-star-turning-video-game-thrilling-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311250/exit-8s-director-and-star-turning-video-game-thrilling-film?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 May 2025 10:15:07 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 3/5 stars Eight years on from his critically acclaimed Long Day’s Journey Into Night, a commercial flop, Chinese auteur filmmaker Bi Gan, 35, is back at the Cannes Film Festival with an even more audacious and potentially divisive film. Dedicated to the French film historian and critic Pierre Rissient, Resurrection is a film made by, and for, hardcore cinephiles. For those who appreciate early 20th century silent movies and German expressionist cinema, and are into the sport of counting the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311466/cannes-2025-resurrection-movie-review-shu-qi-jackson-yee-bi-gans-ambitious-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311466/cannes-2025-resurrection-movie-review-shu-qi-jackson-yee-bi-gans-ambitious-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 May 2025 02:19:47 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Alexander Skarsgård has taken method dressing to a whole new level, a trend previously embraced by Zendaya and Margot Robbie during their promotional tours for Challengers and Barbie, respectively. The actor’s bold fashion choices at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival are certainly making waves. In director Harry Lighton’s directorial debut Pillion, Skarsgård takes on the role of Ray, the leather-clad leader of a queer biker gang who begins a dom/sub sexual relationship with the meek Colin,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3311323/alexander-skarsgards-method-dressing-cannes-2025-pillion-actor-donned-loewe-leather-pants-thigh-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3311323/alexander-skarsgards-method-dressing-cannes-2025-pillion-actor-donned-loewe-leather-pants-thigh-high?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 22:00:09 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4/5 stars Love on Trial is an absorbing look at the Japanese music industry inspired by real events. Unveiled in the Cannes Premiere sidebar of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Koji Fukada’s film has a universal quality. The story may centre around a J-pop girl group, but its exploration of the pressures put on young performers feels like it could also apply to Western groups. The story is about Happy Fans, a quintet who are rapidly becoming popular with teens. The movie starts with them busy... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311299/cannes-2025-love-trial-movie-review-koji-fukada-explores-dark-side-japanese-pop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311299/cannes-2025-love-trial-movie-review-koji-fukada-explores-dark-side-japanese-pop?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 19:15:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse “I can’t wait to make 10 more movies,” Kristen Stewart said the morning after making what Rolling Stone magazine called “one hell of a directorial debut” at the Cannes Film Festival. Nor can film critics, judging from the rave reviews of The Chronology of Water, her startling take on the American swimmer Lidia Yuknavitch’s visceral memoir of surviving abuse as a child. All the producers who Stewart said passed on her script, saying its subject matter made it “really unattractive” to audiences,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311302/kristen-stewart-directorial-debut-chronology-water-violence-being-woman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311302/kristen-stewart-directorial-debut-chronology-water-violence-being-woman?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 03:18:07 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa While director Ari Astor’s new neo-Western film Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler is considered one of the most divisive films of 2025, the internet seems fixated on one thing – Pascal’s biceps. Posing alongside his co-stars at a photocall for Eddington at the 78th Annual Cannes Festival on Saturday, Pascal turned heads with his all black Calvin Klein look featuring a black sleeveless merino wool tunic that showed off his muscles, paired with wool... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3311215/pedro-pascals-hot-looks-cannes-last-us-actor-stunned-his-bare-arms-exposed-chest-and-bottega-air?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/celebrity-style/article/3311215/pedro-pascals-hot-looks-cannes-last-us-actor-stunned-his-bare-arms-exposed-chest-and-bottega-air?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 22:00:08 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg French film producer Dimitri Rassam was destined to make movies. The son of Bond girl Carole Bouquet – whose role in 1990’s Too Beautiful for You saw her pick up a best actress award from France’s César Awards – and French film producer Jean-Pierre Rassam, he has been immersed in cinema since birth. Francis Ford Coppola is his godfather. In 2024, Rassam’s The Count of Monte Cristo was one of the top-grossing films in France. Now, he has big plans to produce global blockbusters in English, with a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311086/accursed-kings-which-inspired-game-thrones-could-get-its-own-film-saga?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311086/accursed-kings-which-inspired-game-thrones-could-get-its-own-film-saga?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 08:15:06 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 4/5 stars In It Was Just An Accident, women in Iran can choose to appear and work in public without headscarves, and wear Western-style bridal dresses in the open. Modern bookshops do brisk business, and – perhaps most strikingly – paroled dissidents can rebuild their lives without hassle from the authorities. In contrast to his previous films, the twice imprisoned Jafar Panahi – who is now allowed to work and travel freely after having his convictions overturned by Iranian courts – seems to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311148/cannes-2025-it-was-just-accident-movie-review-jafar-panahis-take-irans-psyche?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3311148/cannes-2025-it-was-just-accident-movie-review-jafar-panahis-take-irans-psyche?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 02:13:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey said Tuesday he was “glad to be working again” as he accepted a lifetime achievement award from a charity on the sideline of the Cannes Film Festival. Spacey’s presence at a gala dinner organised by the Better World Fund marks another step in the rehabilitation of the star, who has been dogged by sexual assault allegations. “I feel surrounded by so much affection and love. I’ve heard from so many of my friends and colleagues and co-stars in the last week since this... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311134/kevin-spacey-gets-charity-award-cannes-says-glad-be-working-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311134/kevin-spacey-gets-charity-award-cannes-says-glad-be-working-again?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 May 2025 19:31:53 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui For someone who barely slept a wink the previous night, Juno Mak Chun-lung seems to be in surprisingly high spirits. Then again, how could he not be, having just seen his latest movie making its bow at the most important film festival in the world? The premiere of Sons of the Neon Night at Cannes on May 16 was the culmination of nearly eight years of work, says the 41-year-old Hong Kong musician-filmmaker, and he was relieved to see the film play at the Lumiere Theatre, the main venue of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310938/why-sons-neon-night-new-hong-kong-crime-movie-juno-mak-took-8-years-make?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310938/why-sons-neon-night-new-hong-kong-crime-movie-juno-mak-took-8-years-make?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 3/5 stars It’s hardly every day that a novelist-turned-filmmaker will follow up an award-winning, genial family drama with a live-action adaptation of a video game. Appropriating images and ideas aplenty from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Genki Kawamura has turned a simple premise – in which a player is made to run repeatedly down a short underground passage to search for a way out – into a psychological thriller exploring a man’s guilt and redemption. For those who haven’t played The Exit 8,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310965/cannes-2025-exit-8-movie-review-live-action-adaptation-walking-simulator-video-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310965/cannes-2025-exit-8-movie-review-live-action-adaptation-walking-simulator-video-game?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 14:25:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Kazuo Ishiguro’s mother was in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. When Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate and author of Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, started writing fiction in his twenties, his first novel, 1982’s A Pale View of Hills, was inspired by his mother’s stories, and his own distance from them. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki but, when he was five, moved to the UK with his family. A Pale View of Hills marked the start of one of the most lauded writing careers in contemporary... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310853/cannes-2025-author-kazuo-ishiguro-films-adapting-his-books-and-becoming-homer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310853/cannes-2025-author-kazuo-ishiguro-films-adapting-his-books-and-becoming-homer?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 4.5/5 stars The Cannes Film Festival may be hosting yet another virtual-reality programme this year, but the most immersive event on the Croisette in the French seaside city so far has been the premiere of an old-school, two-dimensional, three-hour movie filmed in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio. Revolving around its titular Portuguese explorer’s expeditions to Southeast Asia in the early 16th century, Magellan is relentlessly engrossing – an epic in which viewers witness the distress, death and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310808/cannes-2025-magellan-movie-review-gael-garcia-bernal-plays-explorer-engrossing-epic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310808/cannes-2025-magellan-movie-review-gael-garcia-bernal-plays-explorer-engrossing-epic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 23:36:07 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4/5 stars Wes Anderson’s latest feature, a spy movie rendered in the way only he can, feels like the antithesis to the latest Mission: Impossible film. Playing in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where his last two features premiered, The Phoenician Scheme is an old-fashioned espionage caper styled in the exquisite, delicately hewn manner for which Anderson is famed. Here he gets to work with Benicio del Toro, who featured briefly in Anderson’s 2021 film The French Dispatch but... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310594/cannes-2025-phoenician-scheme-movie-review-wes-andersons-exquisite-espionage-caper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310594/cannes-2025-phoenician-scheme-movie-review-wes-andersons-exquisite-espionage-caper?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 18:45:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4/5 stars There was a time when Jennifer Lawrence was known as one of the most fearless actresses of her generation. More recently she has taken a step back, shifting down gears with films like Causeway and No Hard Feelings. But her reputation will surely be bolstered on the back of Die, My Love, in which she gives a searing turn as a married mother who comes apart at the seams after giving birth. Playing in Cannes Film Festival’s main competition, this adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s novel is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310818/cannes-2025-die-my-love-movie-review-jennifer-lawrence-anchors-lynne-ramsay-psychodrama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310818/cannes-2025-die-my-love-movie-review-jennifer-lawrence-anchors-lynne-ramsay-psychodrama?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 10:35:07 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 4/5 stars In Renoir, hardly anybody cries. Its eerily calm characters shed barely a tear even when caring for the dying, mourning the dead or struggling with their lifeless marriages. Yet Chie Hayakawa’s second feature isn’t set in the kind of dystopia seen in her debut film Plan 75, in which the elderly are encouraged to participate in a state-sponsored euthanasia programme to make the country young again. Set in Japan in the 1980s and revolving around the life of a schoolgirl whose father lies... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310774/cannes-2025-renoir-movie-review-plan-75s-chie-hayakawa-considers-amorality-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310774/cannes-2025-renoir-movie-review-plan-75s-chie-hayakawa-considers-amorality-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2025 15:31:54 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars Think of Hereditary, Midsommar and especially Beau Is Afraid, and Ari Aster’s films are stressful to watch. While he shifts gears for his new movie, Eddington, finding a lower register, he still manages to recreate a moment of global stress. The film begins in late May 2020, with the world in lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a grip and coronavirus is spreading. Premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Eddington is billed as a modern-day western, set in New... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310759/cannes-2025-eddington-movie-review-joaquin-phoenix-pedro-pascal-lead-covid-era-western?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310759/cannes-2025-eddington-movie-review-joaquin-phoenix-pedro-pascal-lead-covid-era-western?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2025 09:55:01 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 3.5/5 stars Towards the end of Kei Ishikawa’s visually captivating new film A Pale View of Hills, Niki (Camilla Aiko) tells her mother, Etsuko (Yoh Yoshida), she shouldn’t feel guilty about leaving Japan for Britain after the second world war. “We all need to change,” she says. For Etsuko, that comment rings very true: trapped by both the trauma of war and the tyranny of patriarchy, reinvention was perhaps Etsuko’s only option to attain a more rewarding life. But some of Ishikawa’s changes to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310534/cannes-2025-pale-view-hills-movie-review-suzu-hirose-fumi-nikaido-lead-adaptation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310534/cannes-2025-pale-view-hills-movie-review-suzu-hirose-fumi-nikaido-lead-adaptation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 May 2025 15:08:26 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars It has been almost 30 years since Tom Cruise first played IMF agent Ethan Hunt in 1996’s Mission: Impossible. This latest – and presumably last – instalment, premiering out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, does not let us forget it either. The opening montage, filled with nostalgic clips from the series, is the first of many times we are reminded that Hunt’s three decades have led to this moment with the world on the precipice of disaster. Following directly on from 2023’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310098/cannes-2025-review-mission-impossible-final-reckoning-sees-franchise-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310098/cannes-2025-review-mission-impossible-final-reckoning-sees-franchise-high?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 May 2025 20:00:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Luxury fashion labels are increasingly reaching beyond the red carpets and exclusive parties of the cinema world, becoming partners with filmmakers and production companies. At the Cannes Film Festival this year, which starts on May 13, labels will be looking to showcase not only their outfits, but also their credibility as investors. Alongside corporate heavyweights such as Chanel and Dior, trendy Paris-based label AMI and its founder, Alexandre Mattiussi, have linked up with the festival for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3310138/fashion-meets-film-luxury-houses-deepen-their-connection-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3310138/fashion-meets-film-luxury-houses-deepen-their-connection-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 May 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen South Korean films are absent from this year’s Cannes Film Festival for the first time in more than a decade, and observers say it highlights a brain drain plaguing the industry. According to the line-up released by the Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 13 to 24, no Korean films will be screened in its official selection. A short South Korean animated film, Glasses, directed by Jung Yoo-mi, will be screened as part of Critics Week, an event organised by the French Union of Film Critics... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3308873/why-are-korean-films-absent-cannes-film-festival-brain-drain-netflix-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3308873/why-are-korean-films-absent-cannes-film-festival-brain-drain-netflix-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 May 2025 23:45:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Indian art-house cinema is flourishing, showing a different side to the Indian movie industry best known for its glossy Bollywood films. “I think it’s been a good year for us,” says Payal Kapadia, director of All We Imagine as Light, with almost disarming modesty. Twelve months ago, her sensitive, subtle, dreamy film about three women hospital workers in Mumbai became the first Indian drama selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s main competition in 30 years. It won the Grand Prix, the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3308376/move-over-bollywood-indian-art-house-cinema-rise-film-festivals-take-note?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3308376/move-over-bollywood-indian-art-house-cinema-rise-film-festivals-take-note?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:19:06 +0000 It is no exaggeration to say that Sakura Ando is one of the most important actresses of contemporary Japanese cinema. A winner of numerous accolades, including five Japan Academy Film Prize awards, the hugely popular performer has had an eclectic career since she started acting in 2006. Over those two decades, Ando has navigated deftly between indie hits from cult directors like Sion Sono and Takashi Miike, to award-winning dramas from celebrated auteurs such as Hirokazu Koreeda, to appearing in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3306756/how-top-japanese-actress-sakura-ando-defied-traditions-and-never-had-grand-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3306756/how-top-japanese-actress-sakura-ando-defied-traditions-and-never-had-grand-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Apr 2025 04:15:07 +0000 New films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, and Richard Linklater will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, organisers announced. Coming off a 2024 edition that produced the Academy Award best-picture winner Anora, as well as a number of Oscar contenders in Emilia Pérez, The Substance and The Apprentice, the French film festival responded with a 2025 line-up bursting with big-name auteurs. Thierry Frémaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3306033/2025-cannes-film-festival-has-latest-wes-anderson-scarlett-johannsons-directing-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3306033/2025-cannes-film-festival-has-latest-wes-anderson-scarlett-johannsons-directing-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:13:51 +0000 Earlier this year, Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz had a near-death experience, and not for the first time. He was editing his new film, Magellan, when he began vomiting blood. “I almost died from tuberculosis. I vomited blood four times. It was scary,” he says. When we met for this interview, the 66-year-old was sitting in a hotel in Doha, Qatar. “This is the first time that I’ve got out of the Philippines [since then],” he explains. “I’m still on medication.” He seems entirely calm, but then he is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3305619/filipino-filmmaker-lav-diaz-his-latest-9-hour-movie-magellan-and-nearly-dying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3305619/filipino-filmmaker-lav-diaz-his-latest-9-hour-movie-magellan-and-nearly-dying?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Certain stars may have a bad rap for their treatment of service staff, but others are known for their generosity. These celebrities have healthy bank balances now, but they also know what it’s like to be on the other side of wealth. That’s why they make sure to tip waiters and valets for good service. Here are seven names that consistently appear in lists of the famous who always leave good tips. Amy Schumer In 2016, Schumer earned the respect of wait staff after she left a US$1,000 tip on a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3301245/7-celebrities-who-leave-generous-tips-former-president-barack-obama-and-amy-schumer-hollywood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3301245/7-celebrities-who-leave-generous-tips-former-president-barack-obama-and-amy-schumer-hollywood?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:00:10 +0000 This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. International co-productions, where two or more countries join forces to fund a film, usually end up being less than the sum of their parts. Outside interference can water down an original vision; more often, an attempt to increase the global box office proves incompatible with good filmmaking. A welcome exception to the rule is the 2009 film Vengeance,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3299169/how-johnnie-tos-vengeance-hong-kong-france-co-production-hit-all-right-targets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3299169/how-johnnie-tos-vengeance-hong-kong-france-co-production-hit-all-right-targets?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:07 +0000 Danish film director Lars von Trier has been admitted to a care facility for Parkinson’s disease, his producer said Wednesday. “Lars is currently associated with a care centre that can provide him with the treatment and care his condition requires,” Louise Vesth, a producer at von Trier’s production company Zentropa, wrote on Instagram, according to a translation. “Lars is doing well under the circumstances.” Vesth clarified that she was sharing the news because of speculation in the Danish... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298461/danish-director-lars-von-trier-admitted-care-facility-parkinsons-disease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298461/danish-director-lars-von-trier-admitted-care-facility-parkinsons-disease?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Feb 2025 03:40:04 +0000 In a year when Hong Kong cinema made history in its own backyard, and prominent filmmakers were chased out of their home countries for daring to speak truth to power, 2024 has seen a bounty of incredible films that wield the capacity to educate and illuminate, as well as simply entertain. Below are our picks of the 12 best films released this year across Asia. 12. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies A box office smash hit across Southeast Asia, this tear-jerking Thai blockbuster stars... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3291128/12-best-asian-films-2024-ranked-last-dance-all-we-imagine-light?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3291128/12-best-asian-films-2024-ranked-last-dance-all-we-imagine-light?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2024 23:15:13 +0000