Movies

Rémi (Gustav De Waele) and Léo (Eden Dambrine) are childhood friends who begin to pull apart from each other in the Belgian film Close.

Arts

If you had a particularly 'Close' childhood friendship, this film will resonate

1:23pm February 01, 2023

by Justin Chang

The Cannes award-winner Close -- about two inseparable teen boys — is for anyone who thought their childhood friendship would last forever. It's a beautiful Belgian film, but takes the easy way out.

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Alec Baldwin attends a news conference at United Nations headquarters on Sept. 21, 2015. The actor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set in 2021.

Prosecutors file charges against Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on movie set

5:38pm January 31, 2023

by The Associated Press

The actor and a weapons specialist have been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set in 2021.

'Farha' tells the story of a Palestinian girl in 1948

5:08pm January 29, 2023

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Darin Sallam, the director of the Netflix film Farha, about a Palestinian girl's experience when her village is attacked during the foundation of Israel in 1948.

Highlights from the 2023 Sundance Film Fest

5:44pm January 28, 2023

by Bob Mondello

A look at some of the highlights and discoveries at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which concludes this weekend.

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Lesley Manville stars in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.

Books
Arts

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing

5:00pm January 27, 2023

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and more.

World News

An Israeli documentary challenges a narrative of what happened in one Palestinian village in 1948

4:29pm January 27, 2023

by Linah Mohammad

An Israeli documentary examines what happened to one seaside Palestinian village in the 1948 war.

Priya Kansara as Ria Khan in Polite Society.

Arts

Get these Sundance 2023 movies on your radar now

3:08pm January 27, 2023

by Aisha Harris

The Sundance Film Festival returned in-person to Park City, Utah, this year, and with more submissions than ever. NPR's Aisha Harris screened nearly 20 films — these are her favorites.

Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine star in Close, which Belgium has submitted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

An adolescent friendship fractures in the Belgian Oscar hopeful, 'Close'

7:51pm January 26, 2023

by Bob Mondello

The social forces are pervasive but subtle in Lukas Dhont's Close — no overt bullying or homophobia, just internalized pressures on still-developing psyches.

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Japanese musician, composer, record producer, pianist, activist, writer, actor and dancer Ryuichi Sakamoto, photographed on June 30, 2016 in Paris.

As Ryuichi Sakamoto returns with '12,' fellow artists recall his impact

4:56pm January 26, 2023

The composer has been lauded for decades over his deeply affective music; director Alejandro González Iñárritu, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and more join us to explain why.

Inspiration for Bdeir's 'Warsha' came from above — a crane operator in Beirut

5:05am January 26, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Dania Bdeir, director of the Lebanese short film Warsha. The movie, about a crane operator in Beirut longing to express himself freely, will be released on Netflix Feb. 1.