South African creator William Kentridge first transposed Goethe’s Faustus selling his soul to the devil to the African continent 30 years ago. Against a backdrop of colonialism, it uses life-like puppets alongside actors to portray Faustus on safari in Africa. A new production arrives in Paris fresh from the Edinburgh Festival. Kentridge is a a … Continue reading “Faustus in Africa”
The Netflix series Wednesday, now in its second season, draws upon the Addams Family cartoons created by Charles Addams in the 1930s. But it also takes inspiration from the abundant mythology of supernatural creatures in Western culture. The Addams family are part of a world called the Outcasts. The various outcasts have different powers. For … Continue reading “Wednesday Addams and Mythological Creatures”
Late-night comedy shows have been a fixture of American TV since the 1950s. A mix of satire, comedy, music and celebrity guests, they are known for their criticism of politics and those in the public eye. It came as a shock to audiences when Stephen Colbert, host of the long-running The Late Show, announced in … Continue reading “No More Late Show”
As the final film in the Downton Abbey saga is released, these activities will help your students learn more not only about this final film and its plot but also about the era or rather the “end of an era” in which the lines between classes are blurred and the upper-class world is about to … Continue reading “Downton Abbey: End of an Era”
Netflix is releasing the second (long-awaited) season of Wednesday just as your 6e students are about to learn how to describe people thanks to the Addams Family (File 1, Welcome to the manor) in our brand-new Shine Bright 6e. The following activities mainly focus on reading, writing and speaking skills. They can be used as … Continue reading “Wednesday is Back!”
The exhibitions at the Arles photography festival this year are regrouped under the title “Disobedient Images”. They offer a subversive vision of subjects from families to feminism, minorities to mainstream. Here are some of the highlights of the exhibitions depicting subjects from the English-speaking world. Caroline Monnet Echoes from a Near Future Canadian photographer and … Continue reading “Disobedient Images: Arles 2025”
Two of the exhibitions at the Arles festival 2025 look back at four photographers capturing American life and landscapes over the past century. The World of Louis Stettner (1922–2016) Louis Stettner was a skilled practitioner of street photography with a political bent, often photographing protests, workers and countercultural movements like the Beat Generation. He said … Continue reading “On the Street, On the Road”
When Aboriginal Australians say they are, or are going, “on country”, they don’t just mean they are physically on the lands their ancestors have inhabited for 60,000 years. It also implies that they are shaped by the place, connected to it, and recognize a responsibility to care for it. It is this meaningful phrase that … Continue reading “On Country”
In a world searching for hope, James Gunn revives the DC Universe with a humanist reinterpretation of Superman, its oldest superhero. With the global release of Superman on July 9, 2025, James Gunn officially launches the new cinematic universe of DC Studios. Following several uneven attempts to bring Superman into the modern age, this film … Continue reading “Superman 2025: Return of the Hero”
Ari Aster changes the setting but not the intensity. With Eddington, the American filmmaker plunges into a small New Mexico town shaken by the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Far from the hallucinations of Midsommar or the neuroses of Beau Is Afraid, this new fiction explores the shifting ground of political divisions, power struggles, … Continue reading “Power, Fear, and Pandemic: Welcome to Eddington!”