- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
- Tears, warnings after Japan atomic survivors group win Nobel
- 'Unspeakable horror': the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- Christian villagers 'trapped' in south Lebanon crossfire
- Sabalenka sets up Gauff showdown in Wuhan semis
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Kim Sei-young holds lead with late birdies at LPGA Shanghai
- Toulouse welcome Dupont 'boost' as Olympic star returns to Top 14
- Japanese atomic bomb survivor group Nihon Hidankyo wins Nobel Peace Prize
- Deadly Israeli strike on Beirut likely targeted Hezbollah security chief
- Bangladesh Islamist chief backs crimes against humanity trial for ex-PM
- Everest climber's remains believed found after 100 years
- 20 Pakistan coal miners shot dead in attack
- Clashes on South China Sea, Ukraine dominate Asia summit
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Zelensky meets Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
- Hello Hallyu: why is South Korean culture sweeping the globe?
- UK economy rebounds in August in boost to new govt
- Voice of Japan's beloved robot cat 'Doraemon' dies
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- 20 Pakistan coal miners shot dead in attack: police
- Blinken condemns China's 'increasingly dangerous' sea moves
- Toyota returns to Formula One as Haas partner
- EU chief says China must 'adapt its behaviour' to solve trade row
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- Lynx rally, stun Liberty in overtime in WNBA Finals opener
- Pogacar hunting 'perfect' season finale with Coppi's Il Lombardia record
- 'Soul of old Baghdad': city centre sees timid revival
- Kittle at the double as Niners hold off Seahawks
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Yankees advance in MLB playoffs as Guardians stay alive
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- Kamada says Japan can close in on World Cup place against Australia
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- Renewables revolt in Sardinia, Italy's coal-fired island
- Argentina held, Brazil leave it late in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
- Obama blasts 'crazy' Trump in first rally for Harris
- 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, a plea in favour of world order?
- Fry homers as Guardians down Tigers to stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Japan PM presses China's Li on airspace intrusion
- In Trump 'Truths,' conspiracies, attacks -- and doubts about the election
Saoirse Ronan explores 'ugliness' of addiction with Sundance film 'The Outrun'
"The Outrun," a memoir about recovery, has sold well over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone, becoming a lifeline to countless readers battling with alcoholism.
So when four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan picked up the book during lockdown, she had no doubt that she wanted to help turn it into a film.
The resulting movie premiered at the Sundance film festival on Friday, with Ronan playing Amy Liptrot, a music journalist who returned home from her destructive life in London to the wild beauty of Scotland's Orkney Islands to heal.
"It's a subject that I always wanted to delve into at some stage, having my own experience with it, as we all have," Ronan told AFP.
"I knew that as an actor, there's going to be so much that you'll get to play -- so much color, so many highs and lows."
In the film, Liptrot unexpectedly finds succor in the stunning wildlife, rugged landscapes and crashing waves of her home islands -- moments that are cross-cut with memories of her sabotaging relationships with her partner, friends and family.
"There was so much ugliness I got to bring in this person," said Ronan, who is also a producer on the film.
"When she's at her worst, she's pretty mean to the people she's closest to, and I'd never really gotten the chance to do that."
"I don't necessarily think I would have been ready to take on a role like that, even two or three years ago."
Early reviews were full of praise, with IndieWire calling it both a "towering piece of landscape art" and a "rugged character study."
- 'Love me!' -
The movie was among a packed schedule on the second day of Sundance, the influential indie film festival co-founded by Robert Redford, which takes places in the mountains of Utah each winter.
Also on show was surreal sci-fi "Love Me," starring Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun as an AI-powered buoy and an orbiting satellite who strike up a romance after humanity has wiped itself off the Earth.
Surely the most original entry at this year's fest, "Love Me" asks whether artificial intelligence can feel loneliness, or even love -- and what it might think of humans, long after we have departed this planet.
Apparently the sole two surviving sentient devices, the buoy and the satellite try to overcome their loneliness by chatting across thousands of miles and over millions of years, forging an unlikely bond.
Building up their personalities from scratch, they scour the internet for information about the departed human civilization, mimicking the often cringeworthy and absurd human behavior they find on influencers' social media accounts.
"For us, it's not really a movie about AI. But it's a movie about us, seen through the lens of AI," said co-director Andy Zuchero at the movie's world premiere in Utah on Friday.
"Sort of trying to unpack humanity circa 2024."
Stewart and Yeun initially provide voices for the buoy and satellite, but gradually appear on screen in various visual forms as the AI machines construct a bizarre metaverse of their own.
"It's about a world in which we're no longer here," said Stewart, on the red carpet.
With performative internet videos providing the only surviving imprint of humanity, "the echo that we've left is primarily screaming 'Love me!'" said the former "Twilight" star.
Stewart will premiere a second film at Sundance on Saturday. "Love Lies Bleeding" portrays a violent and criminal affair between a gym manager and a bisexual bodybuilder.
Sundance, a key launching pad for many of the year's most anticipated independent films and documentaries, runs until January 28.
J.Oliveira--AMWN