Syria Showbiz Latest News and Updates

A brave firefighter has told of the distressing scenes she responded to while responding to devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Emma Atcherley, is based in Cardiff and is a crew manager South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Naman Ramachandran Sudipto Sen’s “The Kerala Story,” produced by noted filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah, is in the eye of a storm in India. It has divided the country’s political classes, with some banning the film and others encouraging it. “The Kerala Story” follows the travails of three women from the southern Indian state of Kerala who are abducted and recruited by ISIS in Syria. The modestly budgeted film released on May 5 to poor critical reviews, but is emerging as a major box office success, having grossed $5.6 million to date. The film claims that some 32,000 women from Kerala had been abducted and recruited by the ISIS though the veracity of this number has been disputed. There were widespread objections in Kerala to the film, but it is running there in a limited number of cinemas.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The sensation of a nation crumbling from within — not in slo-mo deterioration, but amid the chaos of widespread violence and political upheaval — is unimaginable to most people. Yet it’s something many will live to experience. Offering a primer of sorts in that grim prospect is “5 Seasons of Revolution.” Made by the pseudonymous Lina, this very first-person documentary doesn’t offer a lot of explanatory background or big-picture commentary on Syria’s still-ongoing civil war. But in charting the filmmaker’s attempts at reportage alongside the fates of her imperiled group of friends between 2011-15, it provides one vivid perspective on a whole country in freefall.  At that timespan’s beginning, the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring reach our English-language narrator’s homeland, where she’s an aspiring video journalist. Her likewise twentysomething close associates, introduced at the start here, are fellow journalists, social workers, activists. All grew up in a de facto police state now controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, whose father presided over the country’s transformation into a military dictatorship decades prior. Defying an official media blackout, she interviews demonstrators and those who witnessed their being fired on by government forces. We see joyful still images of street actions, suggesting a turning point may be at hand.

A Brit mum who served time in prison after travelling to Syria to join ISIS has reinvented herself as fashion influencer.

The prestigious Visions du Réel film festival in Nyon, Switzerland wraps up this weekend, after hosting the world premiere of dozens of documentaries.

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner will draw loads of attention for the celebrities who show, the jokes that Joe Biden tells and the shtick that Roy Wood Jr. uses in his routine.

Alan Henning was a local hero who lost his life while taking food to children and families his Syria. The day before Christmas in 2013, Mr Henning, 47, was kidnapped and later beheaded by so-called Islamic State after being snatched when crossing the border from Turkey into Syria with an aid convoy.

Naman Ramachandran Red Zed Films and October Films’ documentary “My Name Is Happy” will have a limited U.K. theatrical run from May 21. Directed by Ayse Toprak (“Mr Gay Syria) and Emmy and BAFTA nominated Nick Read (“Bolshoi Babylon”), the film follows Mutlu Kaya, a Kurdish woman and promising singer from southeastern Turkey whose dreams were about to come true in 2015 when she reached the finals of “Turkey’s Got Talent.” Days before the final she was gunned down by a man whose marriage proposal she had refused. She survived – with a bullet in her brain. After years of rehabilitation from life threatening injuries, the family was again struck by violence. This time, Mutlu’s carer, her sister Dilek, did not survive a murder attempt by another jilted suitor.

Paula Abdul is proud of her “youthful” appearance.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer (below) for “Draw for Change!” – which was named best documentary series at Canneseries this week – has debuted. The feature film version of the first of its six episodes, “Behind the Lines,” will world premiere at Visions du Réel Film Festival on April 28. The series, from creators Guillaume Vandenberghe and Vincent Coen, profiles six female cartoonists working in six geographic areas of the world, in six individual films and broadcast episodes. Female directors with close connections to each of the societies represented were chosen to tell the stories. Autlook Film Sales is handling international sales.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent A Canneseries and MipTV world premiere screening, Canal+ crime thriller “The Brigade” kicks off with an event that has fuelled the modern-day nightmares of France: the terrorist attacks on Bataclan.  Patrick Prigent, who heads up a Paris unit of Brigade de recherche et d’intervention (BRI), an elite police unit, receives a phone call that there is a hostage-taking situation at the nightclub.  Arriving on the scene, he prepares to send in paramedics but a new BRI recruit, a guy called Saïd, advises against that. “I was Special Forces, two years in Syria. I think those guys did too. You only learn by watching others. They won’t negotiate. They know they’re going to die tonight,” says Saïd. Patrick takes in what he says. 

Mona Mansour‘s time-shifting drama Unseen (★★★☆☆), has lost her way, literally and existentially. She might lament that nobody knows the trouble she’s seen, but even she has taken great pains to forget.As she wakes up on the couch at her ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Istanbul, Mia (Katie Kleiger) can’t remember at all where she was last, what she witnessed, or how she made it safely from there to here.

It's 26.2 miles requires epic amounts of energy, stamina and determination. Raja Aslam however will running on empty when he does the Manchester Marathon tomorrow (Sunday).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beirut-based production powerhouse Cedars Art Productions is having one of its best Ramadan runs ever with eight new series that are all currently scoring stellar ratings during the region’s peak TV season across the Arab world. The prominent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region film and TV company – which also has offices in Cairo, Casablanca, and Dubai – is heading to the Cannes MipTV market with a slew of shows, many of which push boundaries in an effort to appeal to a younger generation of Arab viewers.  Case in point is timely drama “Soul Rising” featuring Egyptian star Menna Shalabi as a young woman named Rouh who, in search of her son, winds up captive at an ISIS camp for female fugitives amid fierce fighting in Syria. This series has been submitted for International Emmy consideration, said Cedars’ president Sadek Anwar Sabbah.

A Dalbeattie fundraising drive for the international earthquake relief effort in Turkey and Syria has totalled £1,745.

Pupils at Dalry School have raised more than £1,000 for the Syria and Turkey earthquake appeal.

The Peabodys on Tuesday revealed a total of 27 nominees in the Documentary and News categories for the 83rd annual Peabody Awards.

Get ready to meet Amer Mohamad, one of the leading fashion photographers in the GCC. This creative visionary proves that every life is valuable and every dream is worth pursuing. Amer’s passion for fashion photography has taken him around the world.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Arthouse genre distribution company Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired North American rights “Rebel,” a music-filled thriller by the Belgian directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The pair broke into Hollywood with “Bad Boys for Life” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and are set to direct the sequel for Sony Pictures. “Rebel” was produced by Caviar, the banner behind the Oscar-winning film “Sound of Metal” as well as “War Pony.” It world premiered at Cannes last year in the Midnight section and be theatrically released later this year. “Rebel” follows Kamal, a young man seeking meaning for his life, who leaves Belgium to help war victims in Syria. Once there, he is forced to join ISIS and discovers the propaganda, manipulation, and atrocity the militia is responsible for. Back home, Kamal’s brother Nassim is slowly indoctrinated by radical recruiters and persuaded to join Kamal in Syria, while their mother fights to keep what’s left of her family together.

A British Muslim woman claims she was detained by police at Manchester Airport because her name is similar to Shamima Begum, the woman who left the country as a teenager to join Isis in Syria, according to reports.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Shaw has left the building. The Oscar-nominated British news executive is calling it quits after an on-off love affair with news producer ITN that has spanned 40 years, affording him a front-row seat to the biggest stories of his generation. Semi-retirement beckons, but not before a valedictory interview.

She has dressed some of the world's biggest A-listers including Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan and Liz Hurley. Now, Manchester-based fashion designer Zeynep Kartal is using her talent to help raise funds following a series of devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria which have left millions of people in need of urgent support.

Michelle Obama has revealed some of her family dynamics, and the differences between her daughters, Malia and Sasha. In an appearance on “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast, Michelle got real about family and shared some advice on living better and being happier. Sasha Obama’s early morning look: oversized glasses and Ugg bootsIs Malia Obama using a different professional name?Barack and Michelle Obama’s incredible adventure at the Sydney Harbour BridgeA post shared by Glennon Doyle (@glennondoyle)Michelle was talking about her girls’ teenage years and how much they’ve matured with time, using Sasha and Malia’s relationship with their father as an example.

A good intention? Jennifer Aydin is giving some context on why Luis Ruelas decided to wear pajamas that once belonged to Teresa Giudice’s late father.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Lamya’s Poem” centers around a Syrian refugee girl named Lamya who draws strength from the verses of ancient poet Rumi after violence forces her to flee from her country. The animated film was recently released digitally in the U.S. roughly around the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising and in the aftermath of massive back-to-back earthquakes that have hit Turkey and Syria.  The timely tale’s impressive voice talent includes Mena Massoud, the star of Disney’s most recent “Aladdin,” as Rumi when he was a young poet; Millie Davis (“Wonder,” “Orphan Black”) as Lamya; and Faran Tahir (“Iron Man,” “Star Trek”) as Baha Walad, Rumi’s father.

Diners at a Polish LGBTQ+ restaurant in Warsaw ended up eating alongside royalty on Wednesday night.

Prince William is following in his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s footsteps.

A Turkish-born chippy boss has sent across hundreds of pounds to help towards rebuilding his earthquake hit home village.

Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day is back tonight, with a host of famous coming together to raise funds for some vital causes. The latest edition of the annual telethon will see Joel Dommett take on host duties as some of the biggest names in entertainment make viewers laugh while supporting those in need.