No less than the home of Molière, Racine, and Voltaire, the Comédie-Française will be transmitting its performances to moviegoers, beginning in October, with three productions presented in 300 cinemas in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The broadcasts will subsequently be offered to the rest of the world in subtitled versions. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Tiny Archipelago Whose Only Export Is Music
“When we became independent, all we had was people. Today, all we export is music, maybe because it was always the easiest art. You don’t need any material to sing.”
Virtual Reality Film To Recreate Anne Frank’s Hiding Place
“Producer Jonah Hirsch and filmmaker Danny Abrahms are creating the new film Anne, which, through virtual reality technology, will recreate history and go back to the early 1940s, giving audiences the feel of being in the secret annex with Frank and the others hiding from Nazi persecution.”
The First Book To Win Both A Pulitzer And An Edgar Award – Does It Mean That Genre Fiction And Literary Fiction Are Finally Converging?
“When a novel does what The Sympathizer accomplished – i.e., something that’s never happened before in roughly 100 years worth of book-award-giving-outing – it’s worth asking why this has never happened before, and why it happened now.”
Why Does It Drive Literary Types Nuts That It’s The Attractive Novelists Who Get Promoted? This Is Why
“Somehow every time it gets reported (every six or seven years or so) it is always received as a disgusting revelation. … I hear you protest. I concur: It sucks that this matters. And most people in publishing think it sucks, too, I assure you. … Given how pervasive the imperatives of celebrity culture are, why are we so surprised by this?” Laura Miller has the likely answer.
White Woman Sues Getty Foundation Over Multicultural Internship Program
“Rejection sure is tough, especially when you’re a white applicant vying for a spot in a museum internship program that’s explicitly open only to minority groups. So tough, in fact, that one Samantha Niemann is now suing the Getty Foundation for racial discrimination after the institution refused to accept her application to its paid Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program.”
Your Grumpy Old Relative Was Right: Creative People Have More Than A Little In Common With Psychopaths
“If you can’t get enough of the myth of the mad genius, you’ll love the results of this new study: … Researchers suggest that creative individuals share more personality traits with psychopaths than their less creative peers do.”
Art Collectors Are Fleeing Geneva’s Scandal-Plagued Free Port
“Art collectors have begun to pull their paintings and sculptures out of Geneva’s secretive free port storage facility as the site once again finds itself under scrutiny following the identification of a $20 million Amedeo Modigliani painting in its tax-free vaults that was allegedly stolen by the Nazis.”
How Septime Webre Transformed The Washington Ballet
“What had been a well-schooled but bland troupe in its last years under aging founder Mary Day woke up when Webre took over. … The Washington Ballet’s audience grew so much that the company regularly filled the Eisenhower Theater. Webre was developing a vigorous, outgoing style that drew attention from arts enthusiasts of all kinds.” Yet perhaps his greatest legacy, says Sarah Kaufman, got started in a wet basement.
Privatising UK’s Channel Four Would Be A Very Bad Idea, Says Study
“The 74-page report argues that the impact of selling off Channel 4 would be ‘overwhelmingly negative’ for the UK economy, the broadcasting industry and creative industries.”