Left-Wing Director Ken Loach, Writer Paul Laverty on the Poisonous Seed-Bed for Far Right Politics in Britain’s Rust-Belt Communities

On the Friday after Tom Wambsgans became the new puppet CEO of the Waystar-Royco media empire, the actor who has spent the past five years essaying the character’s ups, downs, and withering one-liners is propping up the bar of a small boutique hotel in London’s Chelsea. Matthew Macfadyen is nursing a lime tonic and contemplating a rest after several months of hard work on Succession’s blockbusting fourth season. In some other world, one imagines his fictional alter-ego is already discovering the poison in the chalice of the job he has spent a lifetime coveting. Macfadyen, instead, is content simply to think ahead to a quiet family dinner, and to reflect on the adventure of his past half decade.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and Swedish actor Alicia Vikander will be honored at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where they will receive the President’s Award, and present their latest films. The festival will open with “Firebrand,” in which Vikander has the leading role of Katherine Parr. McGregor will present “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder,” in which he stars alongside his daughter Clara McGregor. McGregor’s role in Danny Boyle’s dark comedy “Shallow Grave” (1994) earned him an Empire Award for best British actor, and their next joint film, “Trainspotting” (1996), was an international sensation. McGregor and Boyle teamed up again for the 1997 romantic comedy “A Life Less Ordinary,” in which McGregor appeared alongside Cameron Diaz.

Prince William took charge as he led the royal rehearsals for the grand birthday parade of his father, King Charles, on Saturday morning.

When Manchester City take to the field in the Champions League final this evening, they will do so on the cusp of completing a historic treble.

Manchester United could win both the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season for the first time ever against Manchester City this weekend.

Manchester City are aiming to complete a near-perfect season when they face Inter Milan in the Champions League final next week.

The Europa League final between Roma and Sevilla takes place tonight.

Emiliano Granada Lightning strikes twice. Having won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2018 with “The Dead and the Others,” filmmaking duo Renée Nader Messora and João Salaviza scooped a Un Certain Regard Ensemble Prize on Friday night, including the collective crew and creative team, for “The Buriti Flower.” The couple, whom across the years have developed what they describe as a profound relation with the Krahô Indigenous community, have delved once again into a unique production process resulting in a portrait of strong, sensorial visuals, while tabling an urgent dialogue on the means of resistance in a modern world.  Produced by Karõ Filmes, Entrefilmes and Material Bruto and sold by Films Boutique, the film tackles the impact of policies pursued by former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s on the life of Indigenous communities, eloquently shifting between fiction and documentary as it registers their own political discourse.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is on the shortlist to become the UK’s entry to Eurovision 2024, according to a source.The country was represented by Mae Muller at this month’s home competition in Liverpool, scoring just a few points.As Mail Online report, a source believes that only one name is currently being touted for next year’s entry.The source said: A source shared: “At the moment there is only one artist on the BBC’s list for Eurovision 2024, and they don’t intend to add to it.“Sophie Ellis-Bextor is seen as the ideal fit for the contest – she’s a great singer and performer, and she is already known to audiences, both straight and gay, across Europe.”Speaking to NME backstage after her performance at Liverpool’s Eurovision Village on ‘EuroEve’, the night before the Song Contest’s Grand Final in the city (Friday, May 12), Ellis-Bextor discussed her chances of appearing as the UK’s entry in 2024.“I think doing it is an amazing opportunity, and that Mae Muller will smash it, but it was never the right thing at the right time – and I’m a big believer in serendipity like that,” she said.She continued: “Recent times have seen Eurovision artists release amazing songs outside of it and these amazing careers being launched. Sam Ryder’s approach to it last year where we always just so positive and upbeat just saw him really seize the opportunity a bit.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner), the central character in Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak,” is a middle-aged landlord and proprietor of a pub that sits near the bottom of a sloped street of working-class row houses. We’re in an unnamed village in the northeast of England, and the pub, called the Old Oak, has seen better days. So has Tommy, who’s known as TJ. Dave Turner, the very good actor who plays him, resembles a bone-weary cross between John C. Reilly and Michael Moore. There’s a sweet-souled directness to his sad prole stare, and he treats his customers, some of whom he has known since they were in grade school together, with quiet affection and respect. But the pub is falling apart, and the property values in the neighborhood have plunged. TJ is barely scraping by serving pints of bitters.

By Hanna RantalaCANNES (Reuters) - Ken Loach said on Friday he does not know if "The Old Oak," the 86-year-old British director's attempt to win the Cannes Film Festival's top prize for a third time, would be his last. "Oh, I don't know, I live day by day," said Loach, who turns 87 in June. "If you read the obituary columns and you're not in them, it's a good day.

Only nine directors have ever won the Palme d’Or twice. Francis Ford Coppola did it in the ’70s with The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. Ruben Östlund joined the club last year after following The Square with Triangle of Sadness. But this year, there is a very real possibility that, at 86, Ken Loach may go above and beyond that by winning a third Palme for his new film, The Old Oak. Loach first won in 2006 with the historical Irish drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley, then doubled up in 2016 with I, Daniel Blake, a caustic study of Britain’s healthcare crisis. After that came Sorry, We Missed You, a no-less withering look at the punitive gig economy. Like the latter two films, The Old Oak is set in the North East of England and completes an unofficial trilogy, this time with a slightly more optimistic bent. Like all of Loach’s output since 1996, it was written by Paul Laverty, and the pair sat down with Damon Wise to discuss the film’s themes of humanity and social responsibility.

Brits who are staying in the UK this May half term could enjoy better weather than those jetting away to popular holiday destinations, the Met Office has explained. Last week northern Italy was hit by severe floods following heavy rainfall, while thunderstorm warnings were issued for parts of Spain.

Khloe Kardashian threw an incredible private screening of Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, a day before the official release of the movie. The highly-anticipated reboot of the 1989 animated film is set to be released in the US and UK on Friday May 26, with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel.

Naman Ramachandran British actor Tobias Menzies, Emmy winner for Netflix’s “The Crown,” will next be seen in A24’s “You Hurt My Feelings,” directed by Nicole Holofcener. In the film, which bowed at Sundance earlier this year, Menzies plays Don, a psychologist whose long-standing happy marriage to author Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is upended when she overhears his honest reaction to her latest book. Menzies says that the initial brief provided by Holofcener was about a key aspect of his character – his insecurities about his looks and ageing. Going into the project, both Menzies and Holofcener, whose credits include comedy-drama films “Walking and Talking” (1996), “Friends with Money” (2006) and “Enough Said” (2013), were already keen to work with each other. The director cast the London-born star after watching “This Way Up,” the BAFTA-winning British television comedy in which he played straight man to stand-up comic Aisling Bea.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leonardo Di Caprio, Tobey Maguire, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were among the guests at Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary party Wednesday at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, on the French Riviera. The luxury car company also unveiled the first in a new generation of sportscars, the DB12. Other actors in attendance included Kate Beckinsale, James Marsden and James Bond actor Jeffrey Wright. They were joined by singer-songwriter Adam Lambert. The world of fashion was represented by leading models Winnie Harlow, Lais Ribeiro, Alessandra Ambrosio and Poppy Delevingne.

The UK Government recently published the Health and Disability White Paper, which lays out proposed reforms to the benefits system. As part of its shake-up, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced plans to scrap the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to encourage people who need to claim benefits back into work.

Christopher Vourlias On a recent morning in Cannes, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan sat over coffee at the Hotel Martinez and recalled a phone call he received nearly 60 years ago, not long after he’d made a splash on the British folk scene. On the other end of the line was a rising screenwriter and director called Ken Loach. “He said he was making his first feature…and would I help him with the music?” Donovan told Variety. The film, a kitchen sink drama called “Poor Cow,” based on a novel by British playwright and author Neil Dunn, tells the story of a working-class single mother leading a hard-luck life in the slums of London. It’s a movie that set the tone for the type of social drama that propelled Loach throughout a remarkable, prolific career.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Maxime Rappaz’s debut film “Let Me Go,” which plays in the Cannes ACID sidebar, has been sold to Brazil and Taiwan. The film stars Cannes regular Jeanne Balibar in the lead role as a fiftysomething woman torn between her family commitments and pursuing her own desires. Every Tuesday, a neighbor takes care of Claudine’s son while she goes to a mountain hotel to meet men passing through. When one of them decides to extend his stay for her, Claudine is confused and finds herself dreaming of another life. Imovision has acquired all rights for Brazil, and will release the film in cinemas after a Brazilian festival premiere. “The mise en scène is excellent and Jeanne Balibar is extraordinary,” Jean-Thomas Bernardini, president of Imovision, commented.

“The Zone of Interest,” which premiered on Friday, the British director Jonathan Glazer said he’s been thinking about making a film about the Holocaust for many years, but only figured out the story he wanted to tell after he visited Auschwitz a few years ago. “When we started the film I wasn’t sure what film we were going to make, what perspective it would be from,” he said. But then he visited the camp where 1 million European Jews were gassed and incinerated, and 150,000 others murdered as well. “It began to evolve from my own journey, that visit,” Glazer said. “The house and garden the commandant lived in … Its proximity to the camp was jaw-dropping.