22 Established 1961 Lifestyle Music & Movies Thursday, January 30, 2020

fter cementing his reputation as a top woes, which has seen him charged in corrup- lence which culminated in the 2014 war Treatment”. The show has helped opened Aproducer in the US, Israel’s Hagai Levi tion cases. “Our Boys” portrays the events between the Israeli military and Gaza mili- doors for other Israeli production in has sparked controversy back home surrounding the death of Mohammed Abu tants that devastated the Palestinian enclave. Hollywood and has been adapted into multi- with his latest TV series “Our Boys”. Sitting Khdeir, whose body was found in a forest in Filmed in Arabic and Hebrew, Levi says “Our ple languages. But it was “The Affair”-co- in a Tel Aviv cafe, Levi takes a drag from his west Jerusalem. The teen had been burned Boys” demonstrates that “reality is complex”. created with Sarah Treem-which cemented e-cigarette. “I write here,” says the 56-year- alive. “There are victims on both sides,” he adds. his reputation as a leading drama producer. old, surrounded by warm-coloured walls and Three Jewish extremists admitted to the “It’s not about the good and the bad.” The series was released in 2014 for the low lighting. Following his triumph in the murder, describing the July 2014 attack as Showtime network and won acclaim for its United States with “The Affair”, which picked revenge for the earlier abduction and killing Kibbutz cinema unusual storytelling style, portraying an up a Golden Globe for best television series of three Israeli teenagers by alleged Hamas Born in the religious kibbutz of Sha’alvim, event repeatedly from the perspectives of in 2015, Levi says he felt compelled to tell members in the occupied West Bank. The central Israel, Levi discovered film at 16, different characters. “Couples and their stories about events closer to home. “Our prime minister criticized the series for focus- when he worked as a projectionist at the dilemmas especially interest me,” says Levi, Boys”, written for HBO with Tawfik Abu Wael ing on the “shocking but rare” killing of a community’s small cinema. After graduating who is also working on an adaptation of and Joseph Cedar, is based on the real-life Palestinian boy and showing only a few min- Israeli screenwriter Hagai Levi poses for a picture from Tel Aviv University, he became a cinema Ingmar Bergman’s 1970s series “Scenes abduction and murder of a 16-year-old utes of archive footage about the murder of during an interview with AFP in the Mediterranean critic before starting his career in Israeli tele- from a Marriage”. The screenwriter is also Palestinian boy. the three Israelis. coastal city of Tel Aviv. — AFP vision. At the end of the 1990s, he produced working on a film about the intimate diaries Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Levi defends “Our Boys”, which he says his first series, “Short Stories About Love”, of a Holocaust victim. Etty Hillesum, a Netanyahu urged a boycott of the drama shows how the Israeli authorities did all they than 200 Israelis rampaging through before dedicating himself to writing and Dutch Jew, left a detailed account of her life over its portrayal of the events leading up to could to find and convict Abu Khdeir’s killers. Jerusalem after their burial, dragging people directing soap operas. before being killed at the Auschwitz death the 2014 Gaza war. The series tarnishes the “But for that, you need to wait for the third out of cars and chanting “Death to Arabs.” “I He gradually distanced himself from reli- camp, which was liberated 75 years ago image of Israel, he wrote on Facebook, episode,” he adds. The killing of 16-year-olds don’t think that these people really wanted to gion and became interested in psychoanaly- this month. — AFP accusing it of being anti-Semitic. Netanyahu Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaer, and 19-year- kill Arabs,” says Levi. sis, creating the Israeli drama “Betipul”, similarly called for a boycott of Channel 12 old Eyal Yifrach, shocked the country and But words “can be taken literally by peo- about a psychologist. Its success sparked and its operator Keshet, also a target of the prompted a national outpouring of emotion. ple who are psychologically unstable,” he Levi’s first project with HBO in 2008, when premier’s ire for its coverage of his legal Calls for revenge also followed, with more adds. The killings were part of a cycle of vio- he worked on the American adaptation, “In

Javier Bardem

aif Ali Khan, bonafide Bollywood Bollywood ‘renaissance’ Sroyalty and star of Netflix hit The first big name from Bollywood to “Sacred Games”, says India’s mas- embrace digital entertainment, Khan said sive film industry does not need interna- the ambition displayed by Netflix and oth- tional audiences to thrive. But that may not ers has the potential to upend the status be a good thing, he cautions. The 49-year- quo, even in movie-mad India. “Historically old actor, whose latest film “Jawaani the money has been in the big screen, at Jaaneman” (“Youthful Lover”) is out on least in India,” he said, “so a lot of main- Friday, has starred in multiple blockbusters stream actors... would think twice before over the years, from “Dil Chahta Hai” doing television”. But streaming services (“The Heart Desires”) in 2001 to “Tanhaji”, are “challenging that notion”, he said, released earlier this month. while also offering actors greater oppor- Yet even as foreign films-like South tunities and contributing to a “renais- In this file photo Demonstrators hold banners reading “I accuse: Polanski Rapist” during a protest Korean hit “Parasite”-find viewers and sance” in the industry. against French-Polish film director Roman Polanski outside the “Champo” cinema hall in Paris. awards overseas, Bollywood has remained For his part, he has played everything new international treaty giving new rights to film on the fringes of global entertainment, from a commitment-shy chef in the 2005 Aand television actors will come into force in April, content to target India’s 1.3 billion popula- hit “Salaam Namaste” to a murderous the UN said Tuesday, in a development hailed by tion and millions of others from the dias- drifter in the 2006 black comedy “Being Spanish screen star Javier Bardem as “an act of justice”. pora. “The thing about our culture... is that Cyrus” to a Shakespearean villain in The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances was we don’t really need verification, valida- “Omkara”, an Indian adaptation of adopted in 2012, but is only coming into force now that the tion, appreciation from an outside culture,” “Othello”. Describing today’s Bollywood minimum required number of 30 countries have ratified it. Khan told AFP in Mumbai. as a “big umbrella” that accommodates “The Beijing Treaty is the most important thing that has oman Polanski’s new film “An Officer (Roman Polanski), to be in the same room art-house cinema, crowd-pleasing happened to actors since the invention of cinema,” Bardem Rand a Spy” topped the list of nomi- together for a big celebration of film.” “masala” musicals, low-key comedies and said in a video distributed alongside the announcement by nations yesterday for the “French Haenel-who was nominated for best even zombie movies, Khan said the variety the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization Oscars” sparking fury from feminists. The actress for her performance in “Portrait of helps him “feel sane”. “There’s something (WIPO). The treaty gives performers rights over the controversial director has been wanted in a Lady on Fire”-touched a nerve last year always to be said for something that chal- reproduction, distribution and rental of their audiovisual the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year- by telling how she was sexually harassed lenges you mentally or makes you feel that performances, which could mean they are able to earn old girl since 1978 and is persona non gra- from the age of 12 on her first film. French you are going into some territory that is more money. ta in Hollywood. His period drama about director Christophe Ruggia was charged interesting... I would like to mix it up as It updates previous multilateral provisions agreed in the Dreyfus affair, which rocked France at with sexual assault on a minor earlier this much as possible.” 1961 for the digital era and extends to actors some of the the turn of the 20th century, is in line for 12 month. same protections enjoyed by musicians, giving them more Cesars, the French equivalent of the Risky business power to decide how their performances are used. Spanish Oscars. Cinemas picketed His latest movie is an out-and-out star Bardem said it would allow actors to “participate fair- The head of the French film academy Polanski, 86, won both best director and entertainer, but even here, Khan has ly in the use of our audiovisual work” and would give per- Alain Terzian said it “should not take moral the critics’ prize at the Venice film festival departed from the norm by playing father formers “more dignified lives”. “It puts an end to a historic positions” about giving awards. But their in August for “An Officer and a Spy”, which to a 21-year-old woman in an industry injustice which has prevented actors from receiving the choice was swifty condemned by feminists has been a big hit at the French box office where leading men in their fifties routinely basic rights long enjoyed by musicians and other creators. and some film critics. “If rape was an art, despite a wave of protests. Some screen- romance decades-younger actresses on “It represents an act of justice for actors, and a show of give all the Cesars to Polanski,” tweeted ings had to be cancelled after feminist pro- screen. Yet, despite his openness to exper- solidarity that benefits society as a whole,” he said. WIPO the French women’s group, Osez le femi- testers invaded or blockaded cinemas. The iment with roles, Khan says there are chief Francis Gurry said many audiovisual performers nisme (Dare to Be Feminist). publicity campaign for the film was also areas where he feels nervous to tread, “could in fact use some support in ensuring the sustain- halted after French photographer Valentine such as politics, echoing concerns shared ability of their livelihoods.” “The Beijing Treaty bolsters Monnier claimed that she had also been by many actors who steer clear of AV performers’ rights to their work, which translates into raped by the director in 1975. “There are so many of us that if we just expressing opinions on divisive issues. rising earnings, and promotes the economic sustainability Monnier, an 18-year-old model and keep each other happy then we don’t With India gripped by a wave of protests of the audiovisual industry that delights us all,” he said. actress at the time, said Polanski tried to financially need anything,” he added. But against the government’s new citizenship China, Japan and Russia are among the 30 countries give her a pill as he beat her “into submis- he warned that while such an insular law, some have bucked convention by that have ratified the treaty. But big players including the sion” at his Swiss chalet. Polanski approach may not harm Bollywood’s bot- speaking out, most notably female super- European Union and the United States have not. “absolutely denied” assaulting Monnier, tom line, it could be “dangerous” for the star Deepika Padukone earlier this month. “Eventually, we would expect most of the big players to pouring scorn on her story. “Obviously I industry’s development. “Cinema is about But Khan, who is married to top actress join,” Michele Woods, director of WIPO’s copyright law have no memory of it because it is false,” people meeting, comparing, collaborating Kareena Kapoor, says he prefers to be division, told AFP. — AFP he told Paris Match magazine. The direc- because the human condition is quite simi- apolitical. When actors speak out on polit- tor-who sparked uproar at Venice by com- lar. But if we isolate ourselves... I think we ical topics, all too often, “the issue is com- paring his “hounding” to the anti-Semitic will lose out on something because we will pletely ignored and the actor who said it is persecution Dreyfus suffered-blamed the keep catering just to ourselves,” he said. highlighted and abused and trolled,” he In this file photo French Polish director Roman disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey The son of cricketing legend Mansur said. In some cases when religious radicals Polanski looks on on stage after the preview of Weinstein for his woes. Ali Khan Pataudi-whose family ruled the have taken offence at an actor’s comments, his last movie “J’accuse” (An Officer and a Spy) to star He said Weinstein had tried to brand former princely state of Pataudi-and stars have faced boycott calls and threats, in Paris. — AFP photos him a “child rapist” to stop him winning an actress Sharmila Tagore, Khan has never he said. Theatres have also been attacked, Oscar in 2003 for “The Pianist”. The shied away from taking risks, straddling putting livelihoods at risk. “You have to in 5 “By celebrating a fugitive rapist and Oscars’ academy snubbed “An Officer and Bollywood and art-house cinema during think five times before you endanger other child sex criminal, we silence the victims,” a Spy” in its nominations earlier this month, his decades-long career. Even so, the people.”— AFP added the group, which said it would but gave another French film “Les opportunity to play troubled policeman el Gibson and are set to star demonstrate outside the awards ceremony Miserables” the nod in the best foreign film Sartaj Singh in “Sacred Games” in 2018 Min ‘Lethal Weapon 5’, producer Dan Lin has on February 28. British film critic Caspar category. The drama, set in one of the was a turning point. “I think Sartaj Singh spilled. Lin, who served as executive pro- Salmon was equally scathing. “The Cesar restive poor suburbs of Paris, picked up 11 did a lot for me. People who don’t usually ducer of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ television series, has awards are literally inviting an actor who Cesar nominations, just behind Polanski’s watch Hindi films watched ‘Sacred revealed that he and - who direct- was a victim of sexual assault by a director film. — AFP Games’... and working with all those peo- ed and produced the previous four films - is work- when she was a child (Adele Haenel), and a ple in that environment helped my acting a ing on bringing the action buddy cop franchise director who sexually abused a child lot,” he said. back to the big screen for another outing for Detective (Gibson) and his partner Detective (Glover), 22 years after the release of ‘Lethal Weapon 4’. In the latest episode of the Producers Roundtable from The Hollywood Reporter, Lin said: “We’re trying to make the last ‘Lethal Weapon’ movie. And Dick ilms starring Johnny Depp and the Berlinale is one of awareness... of Oscar winner Jeremy Irons will head Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming FSigourney Weaver will be among all the differences that exist not just in the international jury, which organiz- back. And it’s just amazing. The story is very per- those premiering at Berlin’s film the film business, but in life,” said ers said would be announced in the sonal to him.” festival next month, organizers said, as Chatrian. Last year, Kosslick signed coming weeks. The festival will open Lin, 46, says Gibson and Glover are “ready to they defended a competition line-up the Berlinale up to a so-called on February 20 with Philippe go” but the script for the project still needs to be with fewer female directors than last “50/50” pledge to achieve gender Falardeau’s “My Salinger Year”, a finished. He added: “Mel and Danny are ready to year. The 11-day Berlinale, one of parity by 2020. Yet of the 18 films that Canadian-Irish production starring go, so it’s about the script.” The original ‘Lethal Europe’s most prestigious film extrav- will vie for the Golden and Silver Bear Sigourney Weaver and based on the Weapon’ was released in 1987 and the popularity aganzas alongside Cannes and Venice, prizes, only six are directed by memoirs of New York author Joanna of the detective duo meant that it spawned three celebrates its 70th anniversary in women, one fewer than in 2019. They Rakoff. 2020. The upcoming edition will also include Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not The main program also contains sequels. The franchise was revived for a televi- be the festival’s first under new direc- Taken”, starring Spanish star Javier two films from the controversial sion series that lasted between 2016 and 2019, tors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Bardem. Defending the line-up, Russian “DAU” project, whose artists starring Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans as Rissenbeek, after former boss Dieter Rissenbeek pointed out that “the made headlines in Germany in 2018 Riggs and Murtaugh respectively. Lin’s announce- Kosslick ended an 18-year spell at the artistic directors of the festival sec- when their application to rebuild part ment comes despite Donner ruling out the helm last year. tions are generally women”. of the Berlin Wall was denied. Also in prospect of ‘Lethal Weapon 5’ back in 2018 Amid furious debate in Hollywood Major female stars at this year’s competition is a modern take on because of issues with Warner Bros. The 89- year-old film legend said: “I’m ready to do 5. It’s about the dominance of white winners event include Oscar-crowned British Alfred Doeblin’s literary classic “Berlin The new managing director of the Berlinale film festival Mariette at award shows, the duo said yester- actress Helen Mirren, set to be hon- Alexanderplatz” by German-Afghan called ‘Lethal Finale’. It’s very dark. And we were Rissenbeek and the new artistic director of the Berlinale film fes- all set to go, and now Warner Bros. is doing their day they wanted the Berlin festival to ored with the Berlinale’s lifetime director Burhan Qurbani. —AFP tival Carlo Chatrian pose during the press conference on the 70th “embrace diversity”. “The history of achievement award. Fellow British international Berlinale Film festival yesterday.—AFP