NETFLIX AXES CONTROVERSIAL ‘MESSIAH’ SERIES AMID CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Sun 29 March 2020: Netflix series Messiah, a political-religious thriller which courted controversy across the Middle East among Muslim viewers, has been canceled after just one season due to difficulties filming amid the global coronavirus crisis, actor Tomer Sisley announced on his Instagram page. “I am sorry for all the Messiah fans over the world. […]

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SOUTH KOREA’S ‘PARASITE’ TAKES BEST PICTURE OSCAR

Mon 10 February 2020: Subtitle this: “Parasite” is the first non-English language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards. Bong Joon Ho’s masterfully devious class satire took Hollywood’s top prize at the Oscars on Sunday night, along with awards for best director, best international film and best screenplay. In […]

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FEMALE SYRIAN DOCTOR IN OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM HOPES TO INSPIRE WOMEN

Sat 08 February 2020: A female Syrian doctor who ran an underground hospital in a besieged rebel stronghold says she hopes an Oscar-nominated documentary showing her work will encourage other women and girls to demand equal treatment with men. Amani Ballour, 32, is seen facing bombardments and shortages of food and medicine while also challenging […]

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US HAS LOST ITS ‘MORAL LEADERSHIP,’ ACTOR HARRISON FORD SAYS

Thu 06 February 2020: (AFP) Harrison Ford, in Mexico City on Wednesday to promote his latest film, decried the collapse of US “moral leadership” on issues such as improving the environment and immigration policy. “We need moral leadership. We’ve lost some of our credibility and we are anxious to regain it,” the Hollywood star told […]

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SYRIAN DOCUMENTARIES FOR SAMA AND THE CAVE, NOMINATED FOR OSCARS

Wed 15 January 2020: Two gritty documentaries covering the war in Syria were announced as Academy Awards nominees – better known as the Oscars – on Monday, the latest accolade for the Syrian film-makers. For Sama and The Cave were named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – widely considered the film industry’s biggest prize – as […]

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‘JOKER’ TOPS OSCAR NOMS WITH 11; 3 OTHER FILMS SCORE 10

Tue 14 January 2020: Todd Phillips’ much-debated supervillain origin story and R-rated box-office smash “Joker” topped all films with 11 Academy Awards nominations, while Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ World War I tale “1917” all trailed […]

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