African-American author Colson Whitehead and film director Barry Jenkins both made the same mistake when they were children and first heard about the Underground Railroad. The historical Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped slaves escape from the American South to freedom in the northern states or Canada. Both Whitehead and Jenkins pictured … Continue reading “Bringing the Underground Railroad to the Screen”
Marseilles is an appropriate setting for an exhibition on surrealism in American Art: it was from its port that many members of the Surrealist movement fled Nazi occupied France for New York. Find out more at the centre de la Vieille Charité until 26 September. The exhibition examines the cross-fertilisation between European and American Surrealists … Continue reading “Surrealism in American Art”
Yes, that is legendary American director Spike Lee peering out of the poster for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. He is the president of the jury for the 74th festival. Two months later than usual, and with cinema releases having been largely suspended for a year, it will be an unusual edition. Filmlovers everywhere will … Continue reading “Cannes is Back!”
If you find yourself close to Belgium this summer, it’s worth heading to Brussels for the Aboriginalités exhibition: more than 250 paintings by First Australian artists who innovate using traditional techniques and subject matter and modern materials. Art is a very important part of Aboriginal spiritual and cultural life, part of a vast system of … Continue reading “Aboriginalities”
Calling all detective fiction fans: Lyon’s Quais du Polar festival is back from 2-4 July with the cream of crime-fiction authors from around the globe in genres from adult to kids’ fiction, comic books and more. A couple of Anglophone authors who caught our eye are David Vann from the U.S.A. and R.J. Ellory from the … Continue reading “Quais du Polar Lyon 2021”
Multi-national, multi-lingual theatre company Footsbarn will be playing a few dates of their new show Crock of Gold in the Allier and Paris before setting off for a summer tour of Ireland. For fifty years, Footsbarn has travelled the world with its unique mix of theatre, music and circus, drawing its inspiration from the many … Continue reading “The Leprechauns and the Crock of Gold”
A musical about Latino communities in New York – it’s not Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited remake of West Side Story but In the Heights – by Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s all singing, rapping and dancing and screams “summer”! It’s a feelgood story about a Manhattan neighbourhood threatened with gentrification, and the aspirations of the … Continue reading “Musical New York Taken to New Heights”
Nomadland is a fascinating insight to a largely invisible U.S. community: modern-day nomads not so far removed from the Depression-era migrant workers from John Steinbeck’s novels. Based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century by Jessica Bruder, it explores a diverse group of often elderly Americans who have decided to reduce … Continue reading “On the Road: Nomadland”
The Littérature Live Festival will take place in Lyon and the surrounding region, as well as online, from 25 to 30 May 2021. It’s the successor of the annual Assises internationales du Roman and this year features 40 different contemporary authors, quite a few of whom write in English. As well as events at the … Continue reading “Literature Festival in Lyon”
A new biopic of Billie Holiday alleges the blues singer was persecuted by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics over her support for the civil rights movement and her insistence on singing the powerful anti-lynching anthem “Strange Fruit.” Jazz singer Andra Day won a Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Holiday. The United States … Continue reading “Billie Holiday: Blues and Civil Rights”
