City Beirut Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Sarky Mouradian, an Armenian writer-director who also hosted a U.S. TV series in which he interviewed celebrity countrymen, has died. He was 90.

PBS was the top winner in the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards on Tuesday, with four honors for outstanding broadcast and digital reporting in the public interest.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Arabic adaptation of hit Italian movie “Perfect Strangers,” which is Netflix’s first Arab original film, is sparking controversy in Egypt and across West Asia due to a gay character and taboo-breaking storylines, prompting the U.S. streaming giant to respond.Since its release, the Beirut-set “Perfect Strangers” redo has been among the top trending topics on social media in West Asia, a region also referred to as the Middle East.

This is what life is like on a derelict housing estate which has gone viral on TikTok.

After decades of stardom, Keanu Reeves is finally being enshrined in Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentProminent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region indie distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has formed a partnership with Beirut-based outfit Operation Unicorn (OU) in a move aimed at ramping up its production of Arabic film and TV content.In a deal finalized and announced during Saudi Arabia’s ongoing Red Sea Film Festival, Front Row has acquired an undisclosed stake in OU, a young company that has made a name for itself for its prizewinning

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalia Film, the prominent Middle East film distributor with close Hollywood ties, has reached more than two million admissions this year to date in Saudi Arabia, which it says marks a milestone.The results provide fresh proof that moviegoing is booming in the region following the 2017 removal of its religion-related ban on cinema.The Beirut-based company has longstanding exclusive relationships with major Hollywood studios and indies including Disney,

Jessica Kiang “Where will we run away to this time?” asks Soraya Bakri (Nadine Labaki) of her husband Walid (Saleh Bakri), partly joking but mostly not, when what looks like all the trash in Beirut appears on their rural hideaway’s doorstep. Mounia Akl’s “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” is mostly a bittersweet dramedy built from an intimate, sprightly understanding of internal family dynamics, but it is fringed with the implicit melancholy of Soraya’s question.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLebanese multihyphenate Nadine Labaki’s most recent directorial effort, the Oscar-nominated “Capernaum,” shed light on Beirut’s desperation before her city was blasted last year by one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLebanese director Mounia Akl’s long-gestating first feature, “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” which screens in Venice Horizons, is about her relationship with Beirut and Lebanon “and the complexity of this love/hate relationship that is becoming more and more complicated as our country is falling apart,” she says.The country’s complications came literally crashing into the pic’s production when Beirut, on Aug.

BEIRUT -- The artist meticulously cuts small pieces of yellow and red glass, then lays them in a pattern to recreate the stained-glass windows that were the trademark of Beirut’s Sursock Museum, shattered in last year’s port explosion.Conservators, hunched over with magnifying glasses, fill lines of paint loss caused by the explosion with their brushes and weave together tears thread by thread under microscope.

Saudi Arabia after a 50-day detention — mostly in solitary confinement — because of opinions expressed online in support of Lebanon’s president and his ally the Iran-backed Hezbollah.Samir Sfeir arrived in Beirut Thursday from Saudi Arabia. He looked haggard and grizzled— having lost his trademark long black bob.

The African nation of Ethiopia has been embroiled in war since November 2020, and The Weeknd is doing what he can to help those who’ve been impacted by that conflict.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMichale Boganim (“Odessa, Odessa,” “Land of Oblivion”) is directing “Tel-Aviv/Beirut,” a historical drama set against the backdrop of the Israeli–Lebanese conflict in 1982 and 2006.Set in Northern Israel, the film tells the journey of two families on each side of the border whose fate intertwined because of the war raging in Lebanon.

Ben Croll When directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige uncovered a trove of photographs, journals and audio recordings they had made while growing up in Beirut of the 1980s, they knew these personal archives would fuel their next film.

EXCLUSIVE: Nadine Labaki starrer 1982, Lebanon’s International Oscar hopeful two years ago, has been picked up for North American distribution by Utopia Media.

Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and filmmaker who landed an Oscar nomination as director of 2018's record-smashing feature Capernaum, has been cast in the upcoming Arabic language remake of hit Italian drama Perfect Strangers.

The daughters of an American hostage who died of cancer after being forcibly incarcerated in Lebanon during a family vacation have launched a foundation to support Americans in captivity overseas. Amer Fakhoury, 57, died in August after U.S.

Mystery Jets and Graham Coxon have been announced on the line-up for a socially distanced benefit gig at London’s Jazz Cafe next month.All three acts will play at ‘Live For Beirut 2.0’ on December 11, which is set to raise money for the victims of the huge warehouse explosion which rocked the Lebanese capital in August, claiming the lives of over 200 people.Other acts on next month’s bill include the likes of Nadine Shah and Django Django, who will both play DJ sets, and performances from Rose

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLess than two months after Beirut was blasted by one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, director Nadine Labaki has taken to the streets of the Lebanese capital with her camera. “I don’t know where it’s going to lead, or if it will ever lead anywhere,” says Labaki, whose latest film, the Oscar-nominated “Capernaum,” shed light on Beirut’s preexisting desperation.

Peter White Television EditorWaleed Zuaiter, who has starred in Netflix’s The Spy and Hulu and Channel 4 drama Baghdad Central, has launched his own production company to tackle diversity in TV and film.Zuaiter, who produced Omar, the Palestinian feature that was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, has established FlipNarrative, which will be based in LA, London and Beirut.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A teenage singer from Lebanon this week became the latest to join a global pop band formed by Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls and “American Idol,” which aims to transform young unknowns into internet superstars.That may seem a grandiose ambition during a global pandemic.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterBeatport and Twitch have announced a partnership that will enable Beatport to bring more exclusive music and programming to its Twitch channel.With over 140,000 followers, Beatport has seen 33 million views on marathon livestream events like ReConnect (to benefit COVID-19 Relief) and a fundraiser for the Beirut explosion, as well as festival partnerships including Glastonbury, Movement Detroit, Junction 2 and Creamfields.Outside of the bigger festival

George and Amal Clooney vow to watch over Rwandan activist Paul Rusesabagina during his upcoming trial.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLebanese director Ely Dhager’s “Harvest” (see interview here), a drama about a young woman contending with identity issues on returning to Beirut after a long stint abroad, is the standout title in this year’s Final Cut in Venice workshop – part of the Venice Film Festival – which provides post-production support and partnership opportunities to films from Africa and the Arab world.This debut feature by Dhager – whose short “Waves ‘98” was awarded the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Sept. 13, Carl Cox, Pete Tong and Roger Sanchez are just three of the legendary DJs who will take part in “For Beirut,” a 12-hour-long livestream event presented by Electronic Labor Day and Beatport ReConnect to raise funds to support Lebanon and its people in the wake of the August 4 explosion that killed more than 200 people and leveled a large area of the city.

Celine Dion is doing her bit to help the people of Beirut.

Marta Balaga Joining in from Lebanon on Thursday for the second helping of “Life Through a Different Lens: Contactless Connections,” virtual talks organized by the Venice Film Festival and Mastercard, Nadine Labaki – director of the Oscar-nominated “Capernaum” – wasn’t afraid to speak up about the situation in her country.“Exactly a month ago, we had the biggest non-nuclear explosion in history.

SEPTEMBER18 – Sierra Band Present A Night Of Southern Soul19 – Dele Sosimi & Friends20 – Anime Film Scores performed by Piano & String Quintet21 – Anime Film Scores performed by Piano & String Quintet23 – Sierra Band presents Neil Young – After The Goldrush 50th Anniversary24 – Live For Beirut 25 – Light of The World 26 – Osibisa 27 – Sunday Soul 28 – Havana Música: A Celebration of Cuban Music With The Latin Bridge 29 – James Copus And Joe Downard 30 – Cubafrobeat: Cuban-Afrobeat ExplosionOCTOB

The Weeknd said all he had to on his 2018 EP, My Dear Melancholy.

Zuhair Murad is best known for his couture creations, which have been worn on the red carpet by everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Candice Swanepoel and even Beyoncé.But Murad’s latest project is accessible to more than just the Hollywood and modeling world elite - and most importantly, it’s for a good cause.The Lebanese designer took to Instagram earlier this week to launch his ‘Beirut Relief Tee,’ a unisex t-shirt with the words “Rise From The Ashes” printed on it.

Beirut Musicians’ Fund to help musicians who have been directly affected by the incident.The fund is aiming to raise $34,935 (USD), the amount needed to replace artists’ damaged, lost or destroyed gear.All donations will be managed by Tabbal’s own Tunefork Recording Studios and divided evenly among those musicians affected by the blast.

The Pitch Perfect cast just had a mini-reunion! The Pitch Perfect stars Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Anna Camp, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Rebel Wilson, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle, and Shelley Regner reunited for an amazing new cover of Love On Top by Beyonce.

Anna Kendrick, 35, the newly svelte Rebel Wilson, 40, and Hailee Steinfeld, 23 — who last performed as a musical group in 2017’s “Pitch Perfect 3” — reunited as the Barden Bellas, belting out a new cover of Beyoncé’s 2011 hit “Love on Top” to raise donations for UNICEF.The international charity has launched aide efforts to support children in Beirut following a massive chemical blast earlier this month.

Pitch Perfect’s Barden Bellas have reunited to sing Beyoncé and raise money for Unicef.Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Hailee Steinfeld were among the Bellas, who appeared last in 2017’s Pitch Perfect 3, to sing a socially-distanced rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Love on Top’ to raise money for the charity.Unicef is currently campaigning to help children in Beirut following the city-wide explosion that occurred earlier this month (August 4), as well as raising funds to battle the global coronavirus

The entire “Pitch Perfect” cast joined forces for a good cause.