- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- 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
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- 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
A-list stars to confront dicey politics at Berlin film festival
New movies starring Cillian Murphy, Kristen Stewart, Gael Garcia Bernal and Adam Sandler will top the line-up of the Berlin film festival starting Thursday which risks getting upended by geopolitics.
Battered by the pandemic and last year's strikes in Hollywood, international cinema is enjoying a strong rebound and sending some of its leading lights to the wintry German capital for 11 days of premieres and parties.
But the war in Gaza, cultural repression in Iran and an increasingly emboldened far right in Germany risk spoiling the festival atmosphere at the 74th annual event known as the Berlinale, Europe's first major cinema showcase of the year.
"In the past the festival has allowed global politics to be in focus -- last year with the war in Ukraine for example," The Hollywood Reporter's European bureau chief Scott Roxborough told AFP.
"Gaza is a topic on the streets in Berlin this year and could be extremely polarising," with filmmakers asked to declare their stance on the war and protests expected under the Berlinale spotlight.
He noted a small number of directors had pulled their entries ahead of the event in protest against the German government's support for Israel.
The Berlinale however dodged another hot-button issue likely to have sparked demonstrations by rescinding an opening-night invitation to five representatives of the resurgent far-right Alternative for Germany party after a deluge of criticism.
The festival's outgoing director duo, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, said the officials were "not welcome at the Berlinale" in a stand against "anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim resentment (and) hate speech".
- Fantasy and sci-fi -
Meanwhile the event, which has long championed Iran's embattled directors, has urged Tehran to allow two filmmakers who have reportedly been slapped with a travel ban to attend.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha had been due to present their new movie "My Favourite Cake", about the strictures imposed on Iran's women, among 20 films in competition.
Murphy, who is nominated for a best actor Oscar for his turn in "Oppenheimer", will kick off the festival with the drama "Small Things Like This" about the systematic abuse of "fallen" women at Irish laundries run by the Catholic Church.
The Irish star reunited for the movie with Belgian film-maker Tim Mielants, who directed him in the hit series "Peaky Blinders".
Stewart, who led last year's Berlinale jury, will show "Love Lies Bleeding" about a violent liaison between a gym manager and a bisexual bodybuilder.
This year's festival boasts a strong line-up of fantasy and sci-fi flicks and new cinema from Africa.
Sandler will unveil his latest Netflix picture "Spaceman" about a lonely astronaut estranged from his wife, played by Carey Mulligan.
Mexico's Garcia Bernal appears in "Another End", which envisions a technology allowing the bereaved to reconnect with the dead. Cannes best actress winners Renate Reinsve ("The Worst Person in the World") and Berenice Bejo ("The Artist") co-star.
French arthouse favourite Bruno Dumont will present "The Empire", billed as a Star Wars parody.
- Fraught restitution debate -
Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, who won France's Cesar for his 2014 picture "Timbuktu", returns with "Black Tea", the story of an Ivorian woman who falls in love with an export merchant in China.
French-Senegalese director Mati Diop (Netflix hit "Atlantics") will screen "Dahomey", a documentary on the return of cultural artifacts to West Africa from Europe, while "The Empty Grave" will also address the fraught restitution debate.
The Berlinale's Golden Bear last year went to "On the Adamant", a French documentary about a floating day-care centre for the mentally ill.
This year Kenyan-Mexican actor Lupita Nyong'o will serve as the festival's first black jury president.
And Martin Scorsese, nominated for a record 10th time for a best director Oscar for "Killers of the Flower Moon", is due in Berlin to collect an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.
S.Gregor--AMWN