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Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sony Music Entertainment Middle East and Kuwait-based music studio and video production company Ghmza have forged a partnership to produce music and promote emerging pop artists from the Gulf Cooperation Council and across the Middle East. Under the deal, popular actor and Arabic pop singer Bader Al Shuaibi, and Kuwaiti singer, songwriter and television personality Bashar al-Shatti will be the first two artists to work with Sony Music in the Gulf region. A pioneer in the genre known as Khaleeji pop reinvention – the term Khaleeji refers to nationals of six states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Oman – Bader Al Shuaibi has over one billion audio and video streams and three million social media followers, according to a Sony Music statement.

A city considered to be the warmest on earth is now so hot the streets have air-con. The Middle Eastern city is almost unliveable, with temperatures in the summer hitting more than 50C.

EXCLUSIVE: Saudi hit thriller Night Courier (Mandoob) has continued its record-breaking box office run at home in its second week on release, outpacing Aquaman and Dunki with just under three times the admissions of either picture.

Pan Middle East and North African film distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted staffers Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners. 

Ellise Shafer “Barbie” has been banned in Algeria in its third week of release, according to Reuters. In a statement to the news site, an unnamed “official source” said that the film “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances” and “does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs.” The news was first reported by local site 24H Algerie on Monday, which wrote that the North African country’s Ministry of Culture and Arts had asked theaters showing the film to immediately remove it from their schedules.

Talk to Me has found itself embroiled in a wave of unexpected controversy after being banned in Kuwait. The movie is no longer allowed in the Middle Eastern country due to its inclusion of a transgender actor. The ban, enforced by Kuwaiti authorities, is ostensibly aimed at safeguarding “public ethics and social traditions,” according to a statement from the state news agency.Zoe Terakes, who identifies as non-binary and trans-masculine, takes on a pivotal role in the spine-tingling A24 production as the enigmatic character Hayley.

Barbie movie has been banned in Kuwait and now faces calls for a ban in Lebanon amid complaints in the Arab nations about the film’s social values.Kuwait’s state news agency said that the nation acted to protect the country’s “public ethics”, while Lebanon’s culture minister accused the film of “promoting homosexuality”.The film is however still being shown in other conservative parts of the region, including Saudi Arabia.Barbie, which is directed by Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has grossed more than $1bn (£784m) worldwide within weeks of its release.Lafi al-Subaiei, the head of Kuwait’s board of film classification, said that the board usually asks for movie scenes to be cut if they are deemed to flout the country’s culture. But when a film promotes behaviour the state considers unacceptable, it is banned outright.The film “promulgate[s] ideas and beliefs that are alien to Kuwaiti society and public order”, a spokesman for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information said (via BBC News).On Wednesday, the Lebanese Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada asked the interior ministry to “take all necessary measures to ban” Barbie.He said the film “promotes homosexuality and transsexuality… supports rejecting a father’s guardianship, undermines and ridicules the role of the mother, and questions the necessity of marriage and having a family”.Meanwhile, in the US, comedian and actor Marc Maron recently hit out at the film’s conservative critics, describing them as “insecure babies”.“The fact that certain men took offence to the point where they, you know, tried to build a grift around it in terms of their narrative as right wing [expletive] is so embarrassing for them.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lebanon, once thought of as among the most liberal parts of the Middle East, is poised to ban global hit movie “Barbie.” More conservative Kuwait said Wednesday that it had gone ahead with a ban due to its promotion of homosexuality. Lebanon’s culture minister Mohammad Mortada said on Wednesday that the Warner Bros. film was found to “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation” and “contradicts values of faith and morality” by diminishing the importance of the family unit.

topped $1 billion in global ticket sales, some countries still aren’t on board.The bubblegum pink flick won’t see a premiere in Kuwait to protect “public ethics and social traditions,” Reuters reported.Lafi Al-Subaie, chairman of the film censorship committee in Kuwait, has accused “Barbie” of “carrying ideas that encourage unacceptable behavior and distort society’s values,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which cited local media reports. And in Lebanon, per Reuters, the film has been accused of “promoting homosexuality.”Minister Mohammad Mortada, who is supported by the powerful political party and militant group Hezbollah, said the movie was found to “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation” and “contradicts values of faith and morality,” as it lessens the “importance of the family unit.”Because of Mortada’s statements, Lebanon’s interior minister, Bassam Mawlawi, has asked the General Security’s censorship committee to review the film and give its recommendation, according to Reuters.The Post reached out to Warner Bros.

Deadline has confirmed that Warner Bros’ billion-dollar grossing Barbie won’t be getting a release in Kuwait, and it’s skating on thin ice in Lebanon.

Manchester United fans have praised former striker Cristiano Ronaldo as he prepares to become the most-capped men's international player in history.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Kuwaiti-born writer-director Zeyad (also known as “Z”) Alhusaini, whose action movie with comedic undertones “How I Got There” recently won the audience award at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, has joined United Talent Agency for representation in all areas. The groundbreaking film about two best buddies from childhood, named Salem and Asad, who stumble upon a gun shipment and try to seize this opportunity to get rich quick is set entirely in the Persian Gulf. “How I Got There” provides a relatively realistic glimpse of Kuwait’s present-day melting-pot of cultures, and its underworld of gun-running mercenaries, gangs, and terrorists, plus the local rap scene.

One adorable cat has traveled a very long way to find his forever home. Chaz, an all-white domestic shorthair cat, is currently up for adoption at King Street Cats in Alexandria, Virginia, after he was rescued in Kuwait. As a small kitten, Chaz was picked on by other cats — as discovered by a caretaker.  Chaz was brought to King Street Cats after spending a year with a rescuer — and was declared to be positive for FIV — feline immunodeficiency virus.  (HIV infects only humans, while FIV infects only cats.

The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait has received backlash from the government of Kuwait for a tweet supporting LGBTQ Pride Month. On June 1, the United States Embassy in Kuwait posted a tweet supporting Pride Month.

EXCLUSIVE: A24 and AGBO’s fantasy hit Everything Everywhere All At Once has been banned in parts of the Middle East, we understand.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness has been banned in Saudi Arabia over the inclusion of a queer character in the film.The new Marvel sequel focused on Benedict Cumberbatch‘s titular character is due to roll out globally at the beginning of next month.However, following rumours of a ban, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the film now won’t be released in Saudi Arabia, with Kuwait reportedly also set to ban it. Advanced tickets are no longer available in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, though are still in the United Arab Emirates.The censorship appears to be over the inclusion of the character America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who is gay in the comic source material.There is often strong censorship on films with LGBTQ+ content in the Gulf as homosexuality is still illegal across the region.Recent Marvel film Eternals was previously banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar over a same-sex kiss scene between married couple Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and Ben (Haaz Sleiman), with Disney reportedly refusing to edit out the moment upon request from local censors.Star Angelina Jolie subsequently addressed the news, telling news.com.au: “I’m sad for [those audiences].

Transgender woman Maha al-Mutairi was jailed in October 2021 for “imitating the opposite sex” in Kuwait

Lebanon and Kuwait won’t be playing "Death on the Nile," Deadline has confirmed, and that’s unfortunately due to both countries’ protest of Israeli native star Gal Gadot. Gadot served in the Israeli military for two years prior to becoming a model and actress, as her native country mandates it. Given her connection to the IDF, Lebanon previously blocked the actress’ movie "Wonder Woman" from release in May 2017.

“Death On The Nile” is ramping up to be a blockbuster success but it won’t be shown in Lebanon or Kuwait.

Lebanon and Kuwait won’t be playing Death on the Nile, Deadline has confirmed, and that’s unfortunately due to both countries’ protest of Israeli native star Gal Gadot.

Musical fans in the Gulf states won’t be getting to see the new “West Side Story”.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSome audiences in the Middle East won’t get to experience the epic love story between Maria and Tony.Disney and 20th Century’s “West Side Story,” director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the classic musical, has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. In some cases, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the film wasn’t granted a release certificate.

Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” will not screen in the Middle East nations of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as other countries, TheWrap has confirmed. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait both did not grant the film a release certificate, while local censors in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had requested cuts that Disney and 20th Century Studios opted not to make, an individual with knowledge said, and the film will not be released to those markets.

The anticipated robust overseas box office of Disney/Marvel’s Eternals, which posted a first day of $7.6M, will definitely not have Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in its future release plans.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentNetflix, which has been steadily growing its subscribers in the Arab world, has teamed up with Kuwait-based production studio NCIG (National Creative Industries Group) to set up a writers’ lab that will spawn six series projects from writers based in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.The plan is to turn them into market-ready pitch decks on which the streaming giant will have the right to a first look.The Arabic series incubator initiative, which is called NCIG

Stranded residents an oil rich Middle Eastern country have been rescued in special emergency flights from Glasgow Airport.

On Wednesday March 17, the Minister of Health for Kuwait, Sheikh Dr. Basel Al-Sabah, announced that three coronavirus patients had successfully recovered.

By Andreas Wiseman