Abdel Kader Haidara gave up a business career to spend his life gathering and preserving the centuries-old manuscripts of northern Mali – and them risked life and limb to save them when Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb invaded Timbuktu in 2012.
Category: people
A Stephen Sondheim And Andrew Lloyd Webber Collaboration? How About A James Bond Song?
“I’m sure Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the Bond films, has already hired someone to do the score, probably Thomas Newman, who did ‘Skyfall.’ But wouldn’t you want to hear what Sondheim and Lloyd Webber, working together, could do with a Bond song?”
Neil LaBute: ‘Better For Me Not To Be A Mormon Than To Be A ‘Bad’ Mormon’
“I was doing things blatantly that Mormons were not supposed to do. Members of the church are asked not to see R-rated movies and here I was making R-rated movies – spending most of my days crafting them. At some point you hold up these two different ideas of yourself and choose between them.”
Syrian Refugee, Once A Movie Star, Gets Hollywood Ending
After a 30-year career in Arabic film, TV and theater, Jihad Abdo could barely go out in public in Syria without being followed by fans. Then, as civil war broke out, he fell afoul of the Assad regime and fled. He wound up as yet another out-of-work actor in L.A. – until he happened to meet (of all people) Werner Herzog.
Oscar-Winning Director Of ‘Searching For Sugar Man’ Found Dead At 36
Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul won multiple awards in 2013 for his documentary about a Mexican-American folk-rocker who unknowingly became a star in South Africa. Stockholm police say no foul play is suspected in Bendjelloul’s death.
H.R. Giger, 74, Surrealist Designer Made Famous Via Hollywood
Known for creating images melding humans and machines in a style he called “biomechanical”, Giger was primarily a painter and sculptor. Yet he reached millions of people worldwide through his designs for the films Dune, Prometheus, and Alien, for which he won an Oscar.
Star Basketball Player Quits Team After Making The Glee Club
“Brandon Sherrod is one of 14 juniors at the school picked to become members of the Whiffenpoofs, the school’s famous male a cappella glee club.”
Cornelius Gurlitt Died. Now The Battle Over What Happens To The Art
“Many must have been unpleasantly surprised when they learned that Gurlitt had willed his collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland. According to reports, Gurlitt was deeply shocked by the way he was treated by the government. And now there are signs that his own will and testament won’t be respected by the state either.”
Fired Director Of 92nd St. Y Commits Suicide
Sol Adler, 60, was dismissed by the Jewish cultural organization’s board after his longtime undisclosed affair with a subordinate was discovered during a corruption investigation. His body was discovered by his wife on Friday in their Brooklyn home.
Moviemaker Ken Loach Is So Completely NOT Retiring At 77
“So what can film-makers do? Film-makers have got to ask the big questions really – not just look at the symptoms, not just go: ‘Oh, there’s a victim, let’s tell their story.’ You’ve got to look at the big questions.”