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Guitarist Steve Lukather is best known for his nearly five-decade stint in Toto. But years before “Africa” and “Rosanna” hit the airwaves, he was a session guitarist that backed everyone from Boz Scaggs and Diana Ross to Alice Cooper, Jimmy Cliff, Jackson Browne, and Peter Criss. He kept up a double life as a studio musician throughout the the entire history of the band, backing other artists whenever Toto had even a tiny moment of downtime. (The full list of records on Lukather’s official website is so long it stretches across 18 pages.

Dancing with the Stars brings back the fun and funk of the legendary television series Soul Train. Celebrities and their pro partners will strut their stuff to iconic soul tunes as they continue their quest for a mirrorball trophy. The most incredible music of all time will be honored as the Soul Train chugs its way onto the ballroom floor with guest judge Rosie Perez.

What songs and dances featured as ‘Dancing with the Stars’ honors ‘Soul Train?’

Season 33‘s remaining 11 couples of Dancing with the Stars get their groove on with performances worthy of Soul Train. The night begins with a soulful opening number to “T.S.O.P. (The Sound Of Philadelphia)” by Mfsb, featuring The Three Degrees, plus guest dancer and Soul Train alum Popin Pete of The Electric Boogaloos, a street dance crew that popularized popping and electric boogaloo.

Celebrities and pros attempt to gain judges...

Michael Jackson and Madonna had so much in common during their peak years in the 1980s and 1990s but their songs were distinct from each others. Interestingly, they had hit songs with the same title several years apart. Of course, these two tracks have very different things to say about the same topic.

1 of Michael Jackson’s more sexual songs is a nice change of pace

Jackson was the King of Pop, but he knew how to make good rock music. In 1982, he released his soft-rock ballad “Human Nature,” which is likely the best ballad of his solo career. It sounds a bit like Toto’s “Africa,” which makes sense considering that it was co-written by Toto’s Steve Porcaro. However, the King of Pop had a far better vice than anyone in Toto, so “Human Nature” is better than “Africa” by a wide margin.

So, what did Jackson have to say about human nature?...

The Story Behind ‘My Mercury‘ Documentary: Director Joëlle Chesselet delivers a passionate plea for environmental action during an enlightening session at the 18th Mumbai International Film Festival (Miff), emphasizing humanity’s role in nature’s perilous state.

The Journey of “My Mercury”: A Tale of Conservation and Sacrifice

Joëlle Chesselet discusses her eco-psychological documentary, “My Mercury,” exploring her brother Yves Chesselet’s mission to save Mercury Island’s endangered seabirds amidst existential threats from seals.

Human-Nature Relationship: A Profound Exploration

Delving into the film’s themes, Joëlle Chesselet reflects on the intricate bonds between humans and nature, likening the quest for this connection to a spiritual journey.

18th #Miff Hosts Insightful Session on Anthropocene Era and Human-Nature Relationship

We can’t dither, when nature is perishing: Joëlle Chesselet, Director of “My Mercury”

Finding true human-nature relationship is like finding God: Joëlle Chesselet

Read here:… pic.twitter.com/PSutGUn7Q...

Michael Jackson‘s Thriller draws influence from disco, funk, rock, pop, African music, and other genres. Few would be able to tell that the album wouldn’t exist without a discussion of Socrates. That discussion of Socrates would not exist without a film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.

‘The Wiz’ led Quincy Jones to produce Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’

In a 2009 article he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, Quincy Jones discussed the origin of Thriller. The album wouldn’t exist without The Wiz, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz that featured Jackson as the Scarecrow. “In 1978, [director] Sidney Lumet pulled me kicking and screaming into doing the music for The Wiz, and in hindsight I’m so glad he did,” Jones said.

“As the scarecrow, Michael dove into the filming of The Wiz with everything that he had, not only learning his lines but those of everyone in the cast,...

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It’s a vinyl world — we’re just spinning in it.

Over the last few years, artists from Taylor Swift to Beyoncé to Billie Eilish have released exclusive editions of their studio albums, giving music fans another reason to collect their favorites on vinyl.

Vinyl records have continued to explode in popularity, recently even outselling those little circular things called CDs. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (a.

Many of Madonna‘s songs were blockbuster hits. On the other hand, one of the “Like a Prayer” star‘s best tunes was less appreciated by listeners. It’s a great fusion of genres with some clever and cutting lyrics. Here’s a Madonna tune that deserves a second look.

1 of Madonna’s songs was inspired by a backlash to Bdsm

First, some background. Madonna delved into the world of Bdsm with her album Erotica. Predictably, the record and especially the title song shocked a lot of listeners. The Queen of Pop had been a provocateur for most of her career, but with Erotica, she went further than she ever had before. The music video for Erotica‘s title track still feels risque today.

Her next album, Bedtime Stories, was a step back. It included innocuous ballads, such as “Secret” and “Take a Bow,” as well as the airy avant-garde experiment “Bedtime Story.

Madonna‘s worst songs are, at least, bizarrely awful. They’re the sort of bad tunes that could only come from someone with the Material Girl’s ambition. One of them is possibly the only pop song to include the word “spanky.”

1. ‘Hanky Panky’

Writing a jazz tune called “Hanky Panky” is a horribly kitschy move. Madonna makes “Hanky Panky” even worse by rhyming “hanky panky” with “spanky.” Yes, this is a pop tune about erotic spanking. The fact that this hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 is mind-boggling.

For her movie Dick Tracy, Madonna went retro and released an album of retro jazz tunes. Going retro would be another artist’s excuse to be innocent and sweet, but Madonna instead had to find a way to write a dirty song for a children’s movie. It’s no wonder this embarrassing novelty has been forgotten.

2. ‘American Life’

Madonna took...

Madonna brought her “Celebration Tour” to a close with the biggest show of her career.

The pop icon held a free concert on Saturday, May 4th, at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, drawing upwards of 1.6 million attendees.

Madonna’s performance spanned 26 songs and included guest appearances from Brazilian pop stars Anitta (who joined for “Vogue”) and Pabllo Vittar (who took part in the tour debut of “Music”). Check out the full setlist and watch performance footage below.

Previously, Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach massive concerts from The Rolling Stones, who played to a crowd of 1.5 million in 2006, and Rod Stewart, who broke the world record for most-attended concert of all time with an audience of 4.2 million people in 1994.

Beyond being a big night in live music history, Madonna’s performance also closed out her “Celebration Tour,” which saw her honor her long, multi-faceted career with “reverence and joy,...

Michael Jackson was the King of Pop and every king has a court. It’s no surprise he worked with several other megastars across genres over the course of his life. Some of those collaborations are classic and others are tragic.

1. Justin Timberlake

“Love Never Felt So Good” is a posthumous disco duet with Justin Timberlake. It’s not as good as Jackson’s classic disco tracks but it has an infectious, cherry energy. It feels more like a prequel to Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” than anything else.

The song has some great timing. It came out in 2014. 2013 saw a huge revival of disco music with hits like Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Bruno Mars’ “Treasure.” while it was a song from the vaults, “Love Never Felt So Good” felt practically modern! The tune appeared on the posthumous album Xscape. Xscape is not Thriller,...

Michael Jackson‘s Thriller had more classic hits than just about any other album. However, most of those hits did not reach No. 1. Even when the King of Pop made an epic music video, a chart-topper was not guaranteed.

1. ‘Thriller’

The fact that “Thriller” didn’t hit No. 1 feels bizarre. No other music video mattered so much to American culture and yet the tune only peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. If Billboard counted sales of the video’s VHS as single sales, “Thriller” definitely would have hit No. 1.

Jackson (and Vincent Price) got the last laugh on this one. Everybody loves “Thriller.” It’s not just a popular Halloween song, it’s the Halloween song. It certainly held up a lot better than “Monster Mash.” The song’s classic video has been spoofed by everyone from Britney Spears to “Weird Al” Yankovic.

2. ‘The Girl Is Mine’

Not every song deserves to hit No.

Michael Jackson‘s Bad has more great songs on it than most singers will produce over their entire careers. Quincy Jones revealed which track from Bad became the most prominent. He gave fans some insight into the creation of the song. Notably, the song was part of a major musical movement from the time period.

What Quincy Jones told Michael Jackson to do with ‘Bad’

In 1982, Jackson released Thriller, the defining album of his career and one of the most popular albums of all time. The record included classic tracks such as “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Human Nature,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” Following up an album like that would be difficult for anyone, even someone as talented as the King of Pop. Jackson took five years to release his next album, Bad. Bad became a blockbuster in its own right and some...

Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean” deeply impressed an important R&b musician. He said that the track could have been transformed into 12 different hit songs if Jackson had divided it up in a certain way. The R&b icon discussed how he tries to find songs similar to “Billie Jean” every day.

An R&b maetro explained why ‘Billie Jean’ is Michael Jackson’s masterpiece

Antonio “L.A.” Reid is a major pop/R&b producer. He has worked with stars like Boys II Men, Whitney Houston, and Toni Braxton. In a 2011 essay he wrote for Rolling Stone, he said the King of Pop was the best entertainer of all time, comparing him to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. Reid recalled seeing The Jackson 5 at a state fair when he was young. Reid recalled Jackson’s voice resonating throughout the fairground.

“‘Billie Jean’ is the most important record he made,...

Britney Spears is one of numerous female pop stars who will be forever compared to Madonna. Fascinatingly, Spears said two of Madonna’s songs sound timeless to her. The two songs have nothing in common.

Britney Spears called 2 Madonna songs ‘iconic’ in an essay she wrote for Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone ranked Madonna No. 36 on their list of the best artists of all time. As part of that article, the “… Baby One More Time” star explained why she admires the Queen of Pop. “Madonna was the first female pop star to take control of every aspect of her career and to take responsibility for creating her image, no matter how much flak she might get,” she wrote. “She’s proved that she can do so many different things — music and movies and being a parent, too.

“Her music has become iconic: Songs like ‘Holiday’ or ‘Live to Tell’ are timeless — not just disposable hits,...

Many of Michael Jackson‘s posthumously released songs are available on streaming. Three were removed. One member of Jackson’s family questioned their authenticity.

La Toya Jackson said some Michael Jackson songs removed from streaming are fishy

Jackson’s musical legacy is still being felt after his death in major ways. Following his death, the King of Pop’s estate put out two albums of previously unreleased material: 2010’s Michael and 2014’s Xscape. Some of the songs from Michael turned heads due to allegations the vocalist singing them was not Jackson.

According to NPR, Jackson’s sister, La Toya, once sewed seeds of doubt. “I am shocked that things have gotten this far,” she tweeted. “This is ridiculous. I was at the studio when these questionable files were delivered. I heard these ‘so-called’ Michael Jackson songs raw and without the distraction of the well-produced music by Teddy Riley. How they...

Michael Jackson‘s “Man in the Mirror” is the rare pop song with a great message — a message Jesus Christ might have liked. In fact, the song seems like a paraphrase of one of the most famous passages from the gospels. Here’s a look at the spiritual dimensions of one of Jackson’s best ballads.

Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ is like the Sermon on the Mount

Some of Jesus Christ’s most famous teachings are in his Sermon on the Mount. Some of these statements are certainly challenging! “Do not judge, or you too will be judged,” Jesus says in Matthew 7. “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?...

Coachella 2024 was the year of the A-list guests. Across all three days, top stars made appearances either onstage or in the crowd to support their musician besties. Olivia Rodrigo joined No Doubt, Will Smith pulled up for J Balvin, Justin Bieber sang with Tems, Billie Eilish threw a last-minute party at the DoLab stage, and Shakira even announced a world tour during Bizarrap’s set.

The talk among some festivalgoers ahead of Coachella suggested that this year’s lineup might underwhelm, but the number of stars joining their friends onstage surely helped with that.

Day Three headliner Doja Cat gave a thrilling end to the weekend’s festivities, bringing an extension of her Scarlet tour to her Sunday night set at Coachella. The Grammy-winning hitmaker last played the festival in 2022; she is the second Black woman to headline the event, after Beyoncé in 2018.

The 28-year-old Mc’s performance was a hard-nosed and hot-blooded spectacle, conceived of pure, unadulterated id. Offering little in the way of stage banter, Doja opened with a sample from Madonna’s biting 1994 anthem, “Human Nature” — then blazed through several tracks off her 2023 album,...

Exclusive: Sandbox Films (Fire of Love) and Xtr (Ascension) have teamed to produce feature doc A Life Illuminated, exploring the life and legacy of pioneering marine biologist Edie Widder, in association with ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX.

Set to direct the pic is Tasha Van Zandt, the filmmaker behind such award-winning documentaries as After Antarctica, about legendary polar explorer Will Steger, and One Thousand Stories, about renowned artist Jr.

A Life Illuminated watches as Widder undertakes an extraordinary journey into the magical world of bioluminescence, through which she decodes the language of light that allows deep-sea life to communicate in complete darkness. It’s Widder’s unceasing need to understand and communicate with the most enigmatic forms of life on Earth that leads her to dive into the unknown, exploring the profound mysteries hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.

The film will draw upon Widder’s vast archive, from her earliest dives in deep sea submersibles,...

Madonna has officially launched the U.S. leg of her The Celebration Tour and we have the setlist from opening night.

The legendary entertainer performed a sold-out show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Wednesday night (December 13) and she added a special song to the set list for the New York City crowd.

The tour launched in London back in October and the start date for the tour was delayed by several months due to Madonna‘s hospitalization earlier this year for a serious bacterial infection.

Madonna‘s setlist for the tour includes more than 25 songs, some of which had not been performed onstage in decades.

Head inside to check out the set list…

Keep scrolling to check out the full set list…

**This set list is representative of the first show and might not be completely accurate for every show.

1. Nothing Really Matters

2. Everybody

3. Into the...

“It’s so great to be home … I mean that in a way that only New Yorkers know,” Madonna, who adopted New York as her hometown in 1978, told the Brooklyn audience present for the North American kickoff of her Celebration Tour on Wednesday. “New Yorkers can identify with just-not-giving-a-fuck motherfuckers. We do shit our way. New York is not for little pussies who sleep.”

Madonna certainly wasn’t tired, and that was the point of the whole show, a tour de force of some of her biggest hits paired with...

International Film Festival Rotterdam has revealed that Belgian cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove will be the recipient of the fifth annual Robby Müller Award, which pays homage to the craft of artists working behind the lens in the spirit of the celebrated cinematographer.

Vandekerckhove is “known for delicately capturing the inner lives of characters,” the festival said, such as a cleaning lady on a late-night journey in “Ghost Tropic” or the encounter of a foreign construction worker and a moss researcher in “Here,” both directed by Bas Devos. He also shot Stephan Streker’s “A Wedding,” about a teenager forced into an arranged marriage.

“With profound commitment and a wondrous tranquillity he captures details and hidden shades of everyday existence in his own singular way that mirrors the emotionally moving images of Robby Müller,” the jury stated.

In other announcements, the festival, which runs Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, revealed that the jury for the...

Last week on “The Voice,” Team Niall Horan took the stage during the playoffs as all six contestants performed for a shot at making it into the live shows. In the end, three of his artists advanced to the next round: Huntley, Nini Iris and Mara Justine. That meant the other three singers — Claudia B., Julia Roome and Alexa Wildish — were all eliminated.

Gold Derby asked “The Voice” fans to vote in our poll for which of these three was most robbed, and the results are an absolute landslide for Alexa. In fact, a whopping 72% of responders voted for Alexa, compared to just 17% for Julia and 11% for Claudia. Do You agree or disagree with those poll results? Be sure to sound off down in the comments section.

The next time Team Niall will take the stage is during the live Top 12 performance show on December 4. That is when Huntley, Nini...

Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who: The Star Beast.

The first of the new David Tennant and Catherine Tate-fronted episodes is called simply “The Star Beast”, a title it shares with the 1980 Doctor Who Weekly comic strip (published in the US by Marvel Comics as “Stan Lee Presents: Doctor Who”) “Doctor Who and the Star Beast”, featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker.

The TV special stars Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the fluffy alien “Beep the Meep”, who first appeared in that comic. And if we put the poster for the special alongside the cover of that comic (see above) there are… similarities.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Doctor Who TV series has adapted stories from other mediums. The most famous example would be when Paul Cornell was invited to adapt the Seventh Doctor novel he had written for Virgin New Adventures,...

Tuesday night during “The Playoffs Premiere” on NBC’s “The Voice,” Niall Horan had the difficult decision of cutting his six-person team down to only three aspiring singers. In the end, he chose to keep Huntley, Nini Iris and Mara Justine, which meant Claudia B., Julia Roome and Alexa Wildish were all sent home. So which of Team Niall’s three eliminated artists do You think was most robbed in “The Voice” Playoffs? Vote in our poll below.

“Moving into the live shows, I think we all know that Team Niall is the team to beat,” the former One Direction superstar declared at the end of the hour. “The three moving forward are so strong and also completely different singers.” The Irish coach then reminded viewers, “I won Season 23, and I have a good feeling the winner of Season 24 is on Team Niall.”

See ‘The Voice’ coaches ranked worst to best

Claudia B.

Choosing your favourite Doctor Who episode feels a bit like choosing your favourite child, except you probably don’t have 800-plus children, so maybe it’s even worse.

But that’s exactly what Doctor Who Magazine inflicted on fans earlier this year, sugaring the pill ever so slightly by combining all the multiple-episode stories into one, which helpfully narrowed the choice from over 800 episodes to 300 “TV adventures”.

Who fans were tasked with rating all episodes out of ten – narrowing it down to 37 stories – and then asked to pick their top five from this list. After much number crunching, the top 10 TV adventures were revealed.

And there was one clear winner: “Heaven Sent”.

This 2015 Peter Capaldi-era episode was certainly powerful and memorable. The Doctor was grieving Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), after she was executed in the previous episode, “Face The Raven”. In “Heaven Sent”, The Doctor is trapped in a strange castle,...

Michael Jackson’s Wikipedia page was updated within moments of the announcement of the singer’s passing in 2009. Two of the major broadcast television networks suspended their primetime schedule to air specials about Jackson, while radio stations across the country cued up songs from his extensive catalog of hits. One woman called in to New York’s Power 105 in tears, repeating, “I loved Michael Jackson! I loved that man!” over and over, before threatening to throw herself in front of a car.

Jackson’s songs still serve as a crucible for our various compromises and self-imposed psychological barriers. It sounds carefree, but it’s impossible to listen to the music without assessing its creator’s hidden torment. Even the smoothest, catchiest, most disco-tastic singles in Mj’s back catalog are a little obsessed. (Don’t stop ‘til you get enough? Got me working day and night?)

Which is our own...

Kaufman was in town as a filmmaker amid the WGA and SAG-Aftra strrikes.

US writer-director Charlie Kaufman blasted the Hollywood studio system while making some sharply pointed observations about Artificial Intelligence (AI) amid the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes in a fiery masterclass presentation at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Monday.

Asked the difference between art and entertainment, Kaufman replied: “If by entertainment you mean conventional Hollywood fare, I would say that it is the difference between truth and bullshit. If the agenda is to sell a product and that product is the movie…then that can’t be art.

Screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman will receive the honorary Heart of Sarajevo award at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, in recognition of his contribution to the art of filmmaking.

The festival will also hold an open-air screening of 2002’s “Adaptation,” which was written by Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze.

Jovan Marjanović, the festival’s director, said: “We are thrilled that, after 15 years, we are welcoming back to the [festival] one of the most significant, world-renowned screenwriters and directors, and honor him for his work and dedication to the art of filmmaking. Charlie Kaufman is an extraordinary filmmaker whose films, though filled with biting humor, compel us to contemplate existential depths of the human experience.”

Kaufman was previously a guest of the festival in 2008 when he presented his directorial debut “Synecdoche, New York.”

Kaufman’s writing career began on the early ‘90s cult classic sitcom “Get a Life,” and he spent...

Sam Smith is no stranger to performing in front of thousands – tens of thousands, even. Still, one might imagine it’s a task that’s infinitely more daunting for someone wearing an outfit of nipple clamps, leather briefs, and thigh-high platform boots. Yet as the 30-year-old stomps across the O2 Arena stage, cherubic cheeks rosy as they grin, there’s no hint of fear. Instead, there’s a playful glint in their eyes and a defiant expression of pride on their face. “Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about sex,” they tease in a cover of Madonna’s 1995 self-expression anthem “Human Nature”. Smith knows that people will talk – and from the looks of things, that’s exactly the point.

Born in London, Smith was raised in the Cambridgeshire village of Great Chishill, where they performed in youth choirs and musical theatre groups.

Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has announced the selection for its 55th edition, running May 17 to 26.

The once renegade Cannes parallel section – launched in 1969 and overseen ever since by the French Directors Guild (Société des Réalisateurs de Films) – will present 20 features and 10 shorts this year. Scroll down for the full list.

The selection is the inaugural line-up of incoming Delegate General Julien Rejl, who was announced as predecessor Paolo Moretti’s replacement last June.

This edition also marks the section’s first outing under the new French name of Quinzaine des Cinéastes.

The name change from Quinzaine des Réalisateurs was announced back in June as a move to make its French-language banner title more gender-inclusive. This year, seven of the 21 filmmakers in the 20-title feature selection are women.

Rejl and his new selection team have pulled together an eclectic line-up mixing confirmed directors, buzzed-about newcomers and a handful of off-the-radar titles.

French...

TLC has cornered the market on exploring diverse and unique family arrangements. First, the network covered supersized families like the Duggars and the Gosselins. It moved in a different direction in recent years. Instead of large families, the network has carved out a niche for unique family setups, specifically polygamist families. With Sister Wives and Seeking Sister Wife drawing interest, the network is again trying its luck with Seeking Brother Husband, a show focused on families living and exploring polyandry. How are polyandry and polygamy different?

‘Seeking Brother Husbands’ focuses on families looking for additional husbands

You’ve probably seen Seeking Sister Wife, and you’ve almost definitely seen Sister Wives, but have you seen Seeking Brother Husband yet? Premiering on TLC on Mar. 26, the show explores several families who have all decided, for various reasons, to seek out a second or third husband to join their family.

The series...

A new year means a new New Directors/New Films lineup.

The 2023 festival, presented by the Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center, is set to take place from March 29 through April 9 and boasts films from 41 directors. The 52nd edition of the festival kicks off with Savannah Leaf’s A24 drama “Earth Mama” and concludes with Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s trans coming-of-age story “Mutt.” Both premiered at Sundance to acclaim.

In total, the festival boasts 27 features and 11 short films, with screenings taking place at theaters both at MoMA and Flc. Nations represented range from Argentina to Angola, Nigeria to Ukraine.

“This geographically diverse lineup brings together new directors from all over the world presenting works that make bold and creative statements on everything from identity and family to political repression and postcolonial discourse,” MoMA film curator and 2023 Nd/Nf co-chair La Frances Hui said in a press statement. “The...

Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have set Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama and Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Sundance Special Jury Award winner Mutt, both debut features, as opening and closing film at the 52st edition of their collaboration, New Directors/New Films, running March 29–April 9 in NYC.

The festival will introduce will showcase 27 features and 11 shorts from 41 directors at theaters in both venues.

Mutt star Lio Mehial was awarded a U.S. Special Jury Award for acting at Sundance Film festival for their portrayal of Feña, a twentysomething trans man contending with an onslaught of aggravation, surprise encounters and emotional choices over the course of a single hectic day in New York City. “We were charmed, seduced, and compelled by this fresh new performer as we watched them navigating the intimate complexities of their everyday life and relationships in his search for acceptance,” the jury citation said.

The recording industry may slowly be waking up to the fact that some of its most important creators are wildly undervalued — one sign is the first-ever Songwriter of the Year Grammy, which Tobias Jesso, Jr. recently won for his behind-the-scenes work with Adele, Harry Styles, FKA Twigs, Omar Apollo, and others. But as our recent report on the state of the songwriting business emphasizes, the model for compensating writers is deeply broken. The people we spoke with revealed that in a streaming-dominated world, writing a great song for a major...

Charlie Kaufman, who penned the Writers Guild Award and Academy Award-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, will receive the Writers Guild of America West’s 2023 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, the Wgaw announced on Wednesday.

This lifetime achievement award is presented to members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter.”

The career of the writer, director, producer and author began in the early ’90s with the cult classic sitcom Get a Life, and he spent time after that working in comedy and sketch TV before transitioning into film projects. He was nominated for a Writers Guild Award, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1999 for his screenplay Being John Malkovich, for which he also won the Independent Spirit Award for best first screenplay. Adaptation earned Kaufman his second Writers Guild and Academy Awards, and 2004’s The...

Charlie Kaufman will receive the Writers Guild of America West’s 2023 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. The prize recognizes members of the WGA who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter,” according to a statement released by the guild.

The recognition comes 23 years after Kaufman’s first WGA Awards nomination, for “Being John Malkovich” — a groundbreaking surrealist classic directed by Spike Jonze that also earned Kaufman his first Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe nod and an Independent Spirit Award win for Best First Screenplay.

Also Read:

‘The Fabelmans,’ ‘Women Talking,’ ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Land Writers Guild Nominations

Reteaming with Jonze, he turned his own painful writer’s block while adapting Susan Orlean’s book “The Orchid Thief” into the mind-bending film “Adaptation,” which again earned him nominations from the WGA and the Academy. He won both awards...

Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman will be this year’s recipient of the WGA West’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. The lifetime achievement award, which goes to members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter,” will be presented March 5 during the 75th annual Writers Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

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“A true visionary, Kaufman’s legacy is undeniable,” the guild said.

He won an Oscar and a WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay for 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and received Oscar and WGA nominations for...

Cyrielle Raingou’s documentary “Le Spectre de Boko Haram” won the Tiger Award, the top prize of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Friday. The film follows a group of children in the north of Cameroon, an area dominated by the terrorist organization Boko Haram. Raingou is from the area herself.

“When I received this unforgettable call, I started crying. I couldn’t believe it. This recognition means the world to me and my people,” Raingou said on a video message played during the awards ceremony.

The jury deemed Raingou’s feature debut “a story that centers on its filmmakers’ patient and honest gaze on the hovering presence of violence, seen through the eyes of innocents.”

The Tiger Award, which aims to “raise the profile of and reward up-and-coming international film talent,” is accompanied by a €40,000 cash prize, to be shared between the film’s director and producer. This year’s...

Turkey’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Kerr’ directed by Tayfun Pirselimglu;Tayfun PirselimgluAn interview with the film’s director sheds some light on one of the strangest, most surreal of films. Michael Gondry meets Kafka with a particularly Turkish twist, this story centers around a simple man who is trapped in a town when he goes to his father’s funeral. Everyone seems to have met and spoken to him there, but he seems not to know anyone or to remember them. In fact, he never understands anything, nor does he ask what’s going on until it is too late.

“Everything is bizarre here. Even the weather is strange,” says one of his father’s friends.

Gradually he begins to ask questions and yet he never understands what is happening. He is told he is asking the wrong questions. None of his questions is ever answered. But questions are always asked of him, for which he has no answers either. One of the most frequent questions asked of him is, “What do you think of the state of the country?” Endlessly asked and never addressed, it seems to me to be the main point of the movie.

It all begins at the train station where Kerr is waiting for the train to take him back to his hometown where, now divorced, he lives alone and runs his own little printing shop. While at the train station, he becomes the sole witness to a murder. The murderer leaves the scene calmly, strangely showing no interest in his presence. When the police will not let him leave town, he goes to his father’s home where the woman who kept house and nursed his father introduces herself. He later sees her with the murderer and he runs away in fear when the man sees him and follows him. At the same time, a quarantine is declared due to roaming rabid dogs. The whole town turns into an existential purgatory with no exit.

View the Trailer here.

Tayfun Pirselimglu

Writer, director, author and visual artist Tayfun Pirselimglu is one of the most idiosyncratic Turkish auteurs working today. Best known for his unusual phantasm, distinctive philosophical approach and themes of eternal recurrence, his allegorical plots are also politically dense.

“Entering the unique worlds he creates is like plunging into a Kafkaesque labyrinth with echoes of classical film noirs.” (Mubi)

You may recall Michel Godry and Charlie Kaufman’s collaboration on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever, or their earlier film Human Nature in which a woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as an ape. Similarly, Pirselimglu criticizes social and ethical problems in a deeply humorous way with characters dragged by absurdity.

Could this be how Turkey is today? A country cut off with curfews, quarantined, and ruled by a falsely elected dictator where crimes are forgotten while those who witness them are arrested or living in fear of being arrested. (Today’s news announced the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul for calling a public official a fool, in the context of calling out the name that official called him.) It is a very strange country indeed. Only beautiful music redeems it and then, only in part, from incessant repetitive warnings to citizens to stay indoors.

The murderer and the housekeeper

We are all somewhat like Kerr in an environment where there seems to be some who comprehend it. We cannot but feel we have entered a strange and alien environment which we can either adjust to or leave for …something worse? It is not at all a neat package though it seems as if it could be if only we had a clue as to what was going on. The questions not asked, the questions not answered; nothing gives us a clue until it is too late and we face only a bigger abyss when we try to get answers or try to escape.

What inspired you to make this film?

To me it seemed very subversive.

Prevailing absurdity. Logic is evaporating and insanity is coming into power. We’re stuck in a world on the edge of madness and people are living happily in this abnormality. This is making me scared and I’m asking the question as the one in the film is asking ‘What’s happening really?’ among society living in such established craziness.

How did you get away making it in Turkey and not getting exiled for it?

Instead at Antalya you won the top awards. Is Antalya so independent of Erdoğan?

The plot is universal and it is pointing to the anomaly of humanity’s and society’s current state of insanity. This absurdity happens everywhere including in the USA where the Capitol was raided. The whole world is in this foolishness and I’m conveying the story of a common madness.

Kerr has been awarded in various festivals in Turkey and abroad by the way.

How did you find your actors? Erdem Senocak seems made for the part.

Yes, indeed, he amazingly built a character that completely fits the one in the script. Erdem Şenocak is a very talented actor and this is his first leading role. Some of the actors in the film are ones that had sunk into oblivion and I’m very glad to reintroduce them. The casting period did not take too long as I visualized the faces of the characters during the script writing and consequently settled on them. There were no auditions but instead long conversations.

Do you have back stories on this character? Is it more explained in the novel you wrote that you based this film upon?

Novels offer the readers and the writers the opportunity to shoot films in their minds, through their imagination. Words are the tools to create a universe. Films are compulsive, on the other hand. The mind of the audience is implemented by the formerly made vision. I dare to challenge my own book from this aspect. Regarding the character, yes, I almost always follow the same person lost in absurdity in my books. The reader does not have any previous information on him but gradually the background is revealed through his reactions in the plot.

What did you leave out that was in the novel?

The script is not completely and exactly based on the novel, meaning, I left some characters out and I put some other elements in from my other stories.

Did you add anything?

A couple of new figures. Alligators are replaced by the dogs, by the way!

How was it adapting your own novel to film?

I have not attempted to adapt any of my books before. I write my own scripts and this one was different from my previous experience. I think I wanted to expose my own film shot in my mind while writing the novel. This is a challenge between the writer and the director who are normally rivals. Anyway, it was not a schizoid process, but compelling.

What happens to you in the process of writing and directing?

Writing is an isolated act. Film making is a collective process and the director is encircled by the problems of others beside his/her own ones. Ironically, writing is the healing period of my wounds received in film making.

What happens to you now that the film is shot?

Nothing happens any different than with previous ones. Same problems, same solutions, same wounds, same healing.

What do you consider your strongest attribute as a director?

Clever directors never answer this question.

Where do you feel least assured?

Time pressure on the set during the shooting is not a desirable situation.

What do you like most about directing?

Creating a universe with pictures is eternal.

How did you find being in LA? Have you been there before?

I’ve never been LA before. I visited the east coast various times but I did not have the chance to visit the west before. LA is the Olympus of the cinema and to be there is an interesting experience in this sense, as a director.

Did you learn anything about international sales and US distribution?

My producer Ms. Ersen is dealing with this subject.

Kerr received its world premiere in Competition at the Warsaw Film Festival in 2021 and won the Best Director and Best Music Awards at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival 2021 and Best Director and Best Art Director Awards at the Istanbul Film Festival in 202.

Directed and written by Tayfun Pirselimoglu http://www.tayfunpirselimoglu.com/default.asp

Tayfun Pirselimoglu graduated from Middle East Technical University after which he went to Vienna and studied painting at Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst (Academy of Applied Arts) He held various exhibitions in different cities of the world, including Vienna, Istanbul, Ankara, Budapest, Tallinn, etc. He is one of the founders of the independent art initiative of Akademie Genius which he lectured on scriptwriting, cinema, and painting. He also conducted workshops on film making in Wien, Athens, Ankara, etc.

Pirselimoglu wrote six novels (Tales from the Desert, Album of the Missing Persons, Melancholia, Towers of the City, Kerr and the Barber) and three storybooks (Rooms of the Hotels, The Newest Lives of Harry Lime and Other Side of the Desert).

He started his film career as a scriptwriter and wrote various scripts of shorts and features. He directed his first short film Dayim (My Uncle) in 1999 and then Il Silenzio e d’Oro (Silent is Golden) in 2002; both have received numerous international awards. In 2002 he also shot Hiçbiryerde (In Nowhereland), his first feature film supported by Eurimages which has also received many awards. He shot the trilogy of ‘conscience and death’ including Riza (Riza) 2007 premiered in Berlinale Forum, Pus (Haze) 2009 premiered as well in Berlinale Forum, and Saç (Hair) 2010 premiered in Locarno Ff, all awarded. Sideway (2017) premiered in Warsaw and has received six awards from many festivals. The shooting of his last feature film, adapted from his book named Kerr, was completed in 2020. Pirselimoglu currently has a film retrospective streaming on Mubi, Turkey.

Cast: Erdem Şenocak, Jale Arıkan, Rıza Akın

Produced by: Vildan Ersen, Gataki Films

Running time: 101 mins...

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