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Film show: French WWII epic 'De Gaulle: Resistance' hits screens

Ben Croll takes us through four films from the Cannes Film Festival which are being released in cinemas this week. One of France's biggest film events of the year is Antonin Baudry's "De Gaulle: Resistance", the first of a two-part WWII epic centred on French general Charles de Gaulle, from the fall of France in 1940 to the liberation in 1945. Ben tells us why this film is part of a new trend of French blockbusters focused on uniquely French stories.

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Fast Money Music on his debut album and love for France

US citizen Nick Hinman moved to London six years ago, where he nurtured his music project Fast Money Music – a name partly inspired by New York band Suicide's track of the same name. He popped by the arts24 studio to tell Marjorie Hache about his influences and working with band members from Klaxons and The 1975. They also take a look at new releases by Olivia Rodrigo, Fatoumata Diawara and Vince Staples.Β 

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100 years after GaudΓ­'s death, the Sagrada FamΓ­lia rises

One hundred years after his death, Antoni GaudΓ­Β remainsΒ one of the world's most influential architects and the creator of Barcelona's most iconic landmarks. In this special edition of arts24, Eve Jackson travels to the Catalan capital to explore the extraordinary legacy of the visionary behind the Sagrada FamΓ­lia, ParkΒ GΓΌellΒ and Casa BatllΓ³. Through exclusive access, interviews with the architects continuing his unfinished masterpiece and a journey through the buildings that shaped modern Barcelona, discover why GaudΓ­'s imagination still captivates millions a century later.Β 

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Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu on the film that conquered Cannes

Nearly 20 years after his first Palme d’Or, Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu once again takes the festival's top prize for β€œFjord” – a film exploring the tensions between religious conservatism and social liberalism. It stars β€œMarvel” actor Sebastian Stan and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve as parents accused of domestic abuse. Before the big win, Eve Jackson sat down with Mungiu and Reinsve in Cannes.

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Farewell to David Hockney and Marilyn Monroe at 100

His career spanned London's swinging '60s, the counter-culture of 1970s Los Angeles and the bucolic calm of springtime in Normandy. David Hockney was a master painter of portraits and landscapes, injecting riotous colour into canvases that hang in collections from New York to Tokyo. We take a look back at the career of the British artist following his death at 88 years old.Β 

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AI feature film on Iran’s protest movement makes festival history

A film about Iran's protest movement is making cinema history. "Dreams of Violets" is the first fully AI-generated feature film ever selected by a major international film festival. The 75-minute drama will premiere at New York's Tribeca Festival next week. Created by Iranian-British director Ash Koosha from his home in London, the film took just three months to produce and cost less than 2,000 euros. There were no actors, no cameras, no sets and no film crew. Koosha says the film simply could not have been made through conventional means. Living in exile and unable to safely film inside Iran, he turned to AI to recreate events linked to the country's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters. The film is based on journalistic reports, photographs and eyewitness accounts, and explores themes of memory, censorship and resistance. But as Tribeca becomes the first major festival to embrace a fully AI-generated feature, the film is also reigniting a fierce debate. Can artificial intelligence tell deeply human stories? Does AI democratise filmmaking or threaten the future of the industry? Eve Jackson speaks to Ash Koosha about Iran, ethics and the future of cinema.

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MΓ©lissa Laveaux on music, mortality and identity

With a sensual voice that contrasts with the strength of her lyrics, MΓ©lissa Laveaux creates music that blends her Haitian and Canadian heritage with themes of history, sexuality, and the dark humour she brings to questions of life and death. She joins us in the studio to discuss her latest album, β€œAt My Softest, I Am Most Dangerous”, and her exploration of Voodoo traditions and beliefs surrounding mortality. We also look at her personal geography – the places and influences that have shaped her artistic journey. We also discuss Paris's first Pride Ball, a star-studded gala celebrating LGBTQ+ communities.

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Khalif Tahir Thompson explores self-identity, race and family in new exhibition, "Beautiful Land"

He's been described as a prodigy of African-American art. Khalif Tahir Thompson combines vibrant colours and family photos in portraits painted for his new exhibition, "Beautiful Land" at Paris' Zidoun-Bossuyt gallery. He talks to us about the two movements which inspired his work, Fauvism and the Harlem Renaissance and why Beauford Delaney inspired him artistically. He also talks about his upbringing and self-identity through his work.

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Celebrating a century of the magician of jazz, Miles Davis

One hundred years after the late Miles Davis was born, the revolutionary trumpet player remains one of the 20thΒ century's most influential artists. We look back at the life and legacy of a complex, visionary figure with one of his collaborators, musician Jason Miles, who recorded the albums "Tutu", "Music for Siesta" and "Amandla" with Davis during his later years. Jason's latest record "100 Miles for Miles Davis" is a reflection on those recording sessions.

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'Peaky Blinders' star Joe Cole and director Clio Barnard on class, masculinity and modern Britain

Premiering in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival, "I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning" is Clio Barnard's adaptation of Keiran Goddard's acclaimed novel about five childhood friends from working-class Birmingham whose lives have drifted far from the futures they once imagined. "Peaky Blinders" actor Joe Cole stars as Rian – the one who escaped, made money and seemingly "made it", only to discover that success cannot free him from the place he came from.

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