cinema

The first inaugural Gaza International Festival for Women’s Cinema premiered the docudrama, ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ which recounts the final few hours of the Palestinian girl’s life.

The Indian city’s Maratha Mandir has been holding daily screenings of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge since it released in 1995.

A theatre in Mumbai is celebrating 30 years of screening a much-loved Bollywood romance that has become India’s longest-running film.

On Monday, Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, will mark three decades of daily screenings of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The Bravehearted Will Take the Bride), which shot actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol to superstardom.

The film, widely known to fans as DDLJ, redefined modern Hindi romance and continues to draw hundreds of cinemagoers to its morning screenings with its tale of young lovers bucking tradition since its release on October 20, 1995.

“I have seen it about 30 times … and I will continue watching it,” Mohammad Shakir, 60, told the AFP news agency as he bought a ticket for 40 rupees ($0.45).

Manoj Desai, the head of the cinema located near Bombay Central Station, told AFP that weekday crowds tend to be made up of university students and young couples.

“On Sundays, you will find around 500 people, even after 30 years,” said Desai.

Clash of values

The film, which far outstrips the five-year run of the 1975 action-thriller Sholay (Embers) at another Mumbai theatre, revolves around the contrast between the more liberal values of second-generation Indians overseas and the conservative values of their parents.

Desai said it was common for audiences to break into cheers and applause during the film’s climax, when the heroine runs alongside a moving train into her lover’s arms.

“This is the goosebump moment,” Desai said. “The father letting his daughter go, saying she won’t find a better partner to spend her life with.”

It is a message that continues to resonate with younger viewers, even those who were not born when it was released.

“In our generation today, we often see transactional relationships,” Omkar Saraf, 23, told AFP. “But in this film, the hero crosses all boundaries to win his love with no expectations.

“We have watched it on television, on our mobiles, but the big screen gives us goosebumps.”

‘Cultural monument’

Desai said one die-hard fan of the movie had been coming to screenings for 20 years, while for others, the film had played a part in their own love stories.

One couple watched it while dating, before inviting Desai to their wedding. “They went abroad for their honeymoon – and came back to watch the movie,” Desai said.

The film’s daily screenings were almost discontinued in 2015, but backlash from fans meant the decision was reversed, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

Film critic Baradwaj Rangan said the film had enduring appeal in a country still navigating the tensions between traditional and modern values.

“It represents a certain point in Indian culture, and that is why it is still loved,” Rangan said, adding that it “perfectly captured” the friction between two generations.

“The film has become a kind of cultural monument,” he said. “I think it is going to be playing forever.”

Keaton was best known for her roles in Annie Hall, Reds and The Godfather films.

American actress Diane Keaton, known for her Oscar-winning performance in 1977’s Annie Hall and her role in The Godfather films, has died at the age of 79.

Keaton died in California and her loved ones have asked for privacy, a family spokesperson told People magazine on Saturday.

Keaton, who appeared in more than 60 films, stood out in Hollywood with a personal style that favoured androgynous looks: suits, turtleneck sweaters and her trademark hats.

The actress shot to fame in the 1970s with her role as Kay Adams, the girlfriend and eventual wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy as well as her collaborations with director Woody Allen.

Keaton frequently worked with Allen, portraying the titular character in Annie Hall, the charming girlfriend of Allen’s comic Alvy Singer.

“It was an idealised version of me, let’s put it that way,” Keaton said about the film in an interview with the United States TV network CBS News in 2004.

The film also garnered Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, cementing Keaton’s place as one of the industry’s top actresses and an offbeat style icon as well.

She made a total of eight films with Allen, including 1979’s Manhattan.

Her star-making performances in the 1970s were not a flash in the pan as she would continue to charm new generations for decades, thanks in part to a longstanding collaboration with filmmaker Nancy Meyers, with whom she made four films.

A BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, Keaton scored Oscar nominations three other times for best actress for Reds, Marvin’s Room and Something’s Gotta Give.

Her many beloved films included The First Wives Club, Father of the Bride, The Family Stone and the Book Club movies.

Born Diane Hall in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946, Keaton was romantically involved with Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty (her Reds costar), but she never married.

“I think I was really afraid of men and also very attracted to extremely talented people that were dazzling,” she told Elle magazine in 2015. “I don’t think that makes for a good marriage with a person like me, someone who just didn’t adjust well.”

Keaton is survived by her two children, Dexter and Duke, whom she adopted in her 50s.

Paramount on Friday sharply denounced a proposed boycott of Israeli film institutions by a group that calls itself Film Workers for Palestine and is supported by dozens of Hollywood luminaries.

Earlier this week, the group launched an open letter pledging to withhold support for Israeli film festivals, production companies and other organizations that the group said were involved in “genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”

The letter has been signed by hundreds of individuals, including filmmakers Jonathan Glazer, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo.

“As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions,” the group wrote. “In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.”

The group pledged “not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions — including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies,” which have been “implicated” in attacks on Palestinians. The group described its effort as being inspired by filmmakers joining the South African boycott over apartheid, a global campaign decades ago that proved influential in helping overturn the nation’s government.

Paramount, which was acquired last month by the Larry Ellison family and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, made clear its opposition to the filmmakers’ campaign.

“We believe in the power of storytelling to connect and inspire people, promote mutual understanding, and preserve the moments, ideas, and events that shape the world we share,” said an emailed statement attributed to the company. “We do not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers. Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.”

Paramount is the first studio to state a position on the divisive issue. An insider who was not authorized to speak about the internal debate said Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison and the company’s leadership team felt strongly about the need to speak out in opposition, believing that individuals should not be boycotted based on their nationality.

“The global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world,” Paramount said. “We need more engagement and communication — not less.”

Last week, actor Dean Cain, known for portraying Superman in the 1990s TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, announced that he was going to be sworn in as a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Cain said he was joining the agency because ICE agents, whom he described as the “real true heroes”, were being vilified. He also posted an ICE recruitment video on Instagram with the Superman theme song playing in the background, and promoted the generous pay and benefits that come with being an ICE agent.

Cain is not the only one. Some pro-Trump celebrities have also defended or praised ICE. And Dr Phil tagged along on ICE raids in Chicago and quizzed apprehended migrants on camera.

But setting aside the irony that the Man of Steel himself was in fact also an undocumented alien, why would Superman be so keen to join ICE’s draconian raids targeting immigrants?

For one thing, we need to understand the allure of these ICE operations.

The visuals of masked federal agents, hopping out of armoured vehicles, in military-style gear and swiftly descending on what ICE enthusiasts would claim are terrorists, rapists, paedophiles, murderers, drug traffickers and gang members, are deeply comforting for many in the US.

This is a consequence of a long history where militarised policing gained a semblance of sacrosanctity in the country.

It is well documented that contemporary policing in the US has its origins in slave patrols. This means that the development of the US criminal justice system has its roots not only in slavery, but also in the belief that slave revolts or any effort to upend the racial hierarchy in American society are an existential threat to the established social order.

Over the years, the gradual militarisation of the police has drawn its rationale from periods of perceived existential crises in American society. Whether it was the rise of organised crime during the Prohibition era of the 1920s, uprisings during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, or when President Richard Nixon declared drug addiction “public enemy no 1” requiring an “all-out offensive”, these have served as the pretext for strong, military-style policing on American streets.

This militarisation of the police has been supported by Section 1033 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997, which President Bill Clinton signed into law, allowing local law enforcement agencies to access excess military equipment from the Department of Defense (DOD). The 1033 programme has allowed the DOD to “sell or transfer”, among other things, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, grenade launchers, aeroplanes and helicopters.

This love affair with ICE is also a cultural phenomenon. The hard-edged, violent and brash cop, willing to stray outside the bounds of the law to protect innocent civilians from evil (the Muslim terrorist, the Soviets, the Germans) is a popular Hollywood and American TV show staple. This has normalised the perception that to keep America safe from such existential threats, it is sometimes necessary to use deadly force or extrajudicial actions, no matter how cruel or excessive they may seem.

Of course, in all of this, we cannot ignore the deep, anti-immigrant sentiments that drive the support for ICE.

In my adult life, this xenophobia has taken many forms.

As an 18-year-old college student in upstate New York in the early 2000s, I was the physical epitome of all things evil and anti-American as the country waged its “Global War on Terror”. At the time, I remember a fellow student justifying the extra security checks I had to suffer through at airports, saying, “You cannot ignore the fact that you look like the people who hate us.”

In my late 20s as a PhD student in Copenhagen, I had to hear a senior colleague say, “You’re Indian. I guess your skill is raping women.” He was referring to the 2012 Delhi bus gang rape and murder that received global attention.

Globally, we have also seen a proliferation of reality TV shows like Border Security: Australia’s Front Line and Nothing to Declare UK that claim to show the reality of the multiple threats that Western countries encounter at their borders.

It is now all but commonplace to imagine the figure of the migrant as a vessel for all things we fear and hate.

When Syrian refugees arrived in Europe in 2015, they were portrayed as a security threat, a burden on public services, and a threat to European values.

Last year, the United Kingdom saw a wave of far-right anti-immigrant riots after a mass stabbing of girls in Southport. The riots followed false claims that the attacker was a Muslim migrant. Rioters attacked minority-owned businesses, the homes of immigrants and hotels housing asylum seekers.

This year, Ireland has seen anti-immigrant attacks on South Asians, including a six-year-old girl who was punched in the face and hit in the genital area. Reportedly, these attacks have been fuelled by anger over the affordability and housing crisis.

Such anti-immigrant sentiments have been endemic to American politics.

While the discourse during the Obama years was not as antagonistic, the removal of undocumented migrants was still a political priority. President Obama was called “deporter-in-chief”, and in 2012, deportations peaked at 409,849. That said, in the same year, he also signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, allowing undocumented migrants who were brought into the country as minors to apply for “renewable two-year periods of deferred action from deportation, allowing them to remain in the country”. DACA also made them eligible for work permits.

Deportations were also a priority during the Biden years. In fiscal year 2023, US immigration authorities deported or returned 468,000 migrants, surpassing any single year during Trump’s first term.

That said, during Trump’s tenure in the White House, the anti-immigrant rhetoric has been vicious, and the Republican leader does not shy away from portraying migrants as synonymous with criminality and an existential threat to the demographic, moral and cultural fabric of the United States.

This framing of immigrants as a problematic presence in American society served as a pretext for Trump’s plan to build a wall across the US-Mexico border to stop the movement of undocumented migrants, the travel ban on citizens from several Muslim countries, and a suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program.

Trump’s second term has only been a continuation of such policies. With the genocide ongoing in Gaza and the concurrent visibility of the Palestine solidarity movement, the anti-immigration movement has merged with anti-Palestinian racism, with ICE also targeting pro-Palestine activists whom the Trump administration claims hold views that are antithetical to American values.

With all of this in the background, it then makes sense that an actor who once played an undocumented alien on TV and who himself has Japanese heritage would join ICE. In the era of Trump, targeting the tired and poor huddled masses who yearn to breathe free seems to be the American way.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

It’d been over a decade since reporter Alice Sjoberg had seen the Lord of the Rings films, so she decided to take the opportunity to watch the extended versions at the cinema for the first time

Alice Sjöberg is an Social News Reporter working across all Reach Plc titles. Alice previously worked as an Entertainment Evergreen Specialist at Dexerto. She has a special interest in internet culture, relationship and lifestyle topics. She has written for both regional and national newspapers across the country.

Cineworld is celebrating their Unlimited feature, a membership programme which allows members to watch as many films as they want for a monthly fee, turning 25. So to celebrate, they brought back some of the top films from the last 25 years for fans to enjoy for a discounted rate for everyone.

So when I saw on social media that the Cineworld near me was showing all three of the Lord of the Rings movies three days in a row, I immediately knew I wanted to go. If there’s anything that’ll make those films better, it’s seeing them in the cinema. But when I later realised they were showing the extended versions, I got even more excited as I’d only ever watched the theatrical cuts of each movie.

So, I quickly booked tickets for me and my boyfriend, who is a big Lord of the Rings fan, and together we went to experience the iconic films on the big screen. But will 12 hours in total prove to make this trilogy ‘too much’? Only time would tell…

The Fellowship of the Ring

First up was of course the Fellowship of the Ring, which was showing on the Monday evening at 6.30pm. We made sure to get there early enough to use the bathroom and get ourselves some popcorn and drinks ahead of the three-and-a-half hour long film.

The first extra scene came right at the beginning, which saw the introduction of the one ring and how it came to be so powerful and feared among people in Middle Earth. As a novice in the world of Lord of the Rings, I really appreciated this, as it added extra depth into the story – not that it needs it.

Next up came the scenes in the Shire, which already were some of my favourite as I’d happily live there myself if I could. While I felt like it dragged a bit at some points, you just can’t beat the feel-good moments such as during Gandalf’s fireworks extravaganza. This truly made me excited for watching the rest of the movies, as the cinematic experiences made it even better.

It also added extra backstory to all of the Hobbit characters. While this is nice in the moment, it really adds a nice build up and backstory for the later films.

One of the extra scenes that truly blew me away in this film was when Frodo and Sam spotted the Wood Elves heading to the Undying Lands. While it didn’t add much in terms of the plot, the scenery, music, and overall emotion of the moment made it a breathtakingly beautiful scene that ended with me covered in goosebumps.

As I’d not watched the films from beginning to end in so long, there were also moments and scenes in this film that I’d completely forgotten about, which made it feel like I was watching them again for the first time.

The extra scenes also made me sympathise with Aragorn right from the start. Don’t get me wrong, he is and remains one of my favourite characters, but seeing him visit his mum’s monument in Rivendell and sing and Elvish song that refers back to his feelings for Arwen really makes him more relatable.

The Two Towers

The following evening, it was time for my boyfriend’s favourite film, The Two Towers. It follows the journeys of the members of the Fellowship, after it got divided into three groups and went on their separate adventures to do what they could to prepare for the upcoming fight against antagonist Saruman.

While I was excited for this, our cinema experience started with a disappointment as we soon realised all the ads and trailers were the exact same as the previous night, and they were even in the same order! While this isn’t the movies fault, I had hoped for a bit more variety.

However, one of my favourite parts about this film was how much screen time Merry and Pippin got. Once again, I’d completely forgotten about their adventures with the Ents, especially Treebeard.

A particular favourite moment of mine was when they drank the nourishment of the Ents and quickly starts competing to see who can grow taller than the other. Since the films are quite heavy and dark overall, these lighthearted moments become more enjoyable.

Another example of this is when Legolas and Gimli start to compete with each other over how many orcs they’ve killed at the end battle, which not only helps show the competitive friendship between the two, but also makes the long fight scene a bit more fun and light-hearted.

Speaking of the fight scenes, of which there are many – these scenes have always been incredible to watch. But watching them in the cinema really made it worth having to stay up until almost midnight every night to watch them, even for someone like me who normally has a strict 10pm bedtime.

The Return of the King

All of the sudden, it was Wednesday and it was time to return to Cineworld for the longest movie in the trilogy. It also had an added 51 minutes of footage added to it, making the film over four hours long.

This film included several scenes I think I would miss if I rewatched the theatrical release now, as they truly made an already great film even better. The most notable scene in this extended version is Saruman’s death.

This takes place when Gandalf and the others come across a defeated Saruman who is still defiant, but is quickly stabbed by Wormtongue and falls off his tower to his death. Meanwhile, in the theatrical cut, Saruman’s story just ends and he is simply not heard from again.

The extended version also included answers to a previous plot hole on how Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli take over the Black Ships, which I’m sure fans were overjoyed to learn when they first saw it.

Overall, I spent over 12 hours watching the extended versions of this trilogy in the cinema, but would I recommend it to others? Absolutely.

These films became even more amazing when watching them on the big screen, and the extended versions never felt like they were as long as they actually were as there were constantly interesting things happening.

I am so happy that Cineworld decided to bring these films back to the cinema, and I hope more cinemas will do the same in the future as I’m desperate to watch them again.

When a country like Armenia sends a film out into the world, it’s not just art. It’s a way to preserve memory, to reach a scattered diaspora. Each film offers the world stories that might otherwise be forgotten. So when President Trump proposes a 100% tariff on all films “produced in foreign lands,” the damage isn’t limited to foreign competitors or outsourcing studios. It threatens to shut out small nations like Armenia, for whom cinema is a lifeline.

The proposal hasn’t taken effect — yet. But July 9 marked a turning point in Trump’s broader tariff agenda, with a deadline for reimposing sweeping trade penalties on countries deemed “unfair.” While the situation for films remains unclear, the proposal alone has done damage and continues to haunt the industry. The tariff idea arises from the worldview that treats international exchange as a threat — and cultural expression as just another import to tax.

Take “Amerikatsi” (2022), the extraordinary recent movie by Emmy-winning actor and director Michael A. Goorjian. Inspired by his grandfather’s escape from the Armenian genocide — smuggled across the ocean in a crate — the project is not just a movie; it’s a universal story rooted in the Armenian experience, made possible by international collaboration and driven by a deep personal mission. Goorjian filmed it in Armenia with local crews, including people who, months later, would find themselves on the front lines of war. One was killed. Others were injured. Still, they sent him videos from the trenches saying all they wanted was to return to the set. That is the spirit a tariff like this would crush.

Armenia is a democracy in a dangerous neighborhood. Its history is riddled with trauma — genocide, war, occupation — and its present is haunted by threats from neighboring authoritarian regimes. But even as bombs fall and borders close, its people create. Films like “Aurora’s Sunrise” (2022) and “Should the Wind Drop” (2020) carry voices across oceans, turning pain into poetry, history into cinema. These films don’t rely on wide releases. They depend on arthouses, festivals, streamers and distributors with the courage and curiosity to take a chance. A 100% tariff would devastate that.

Indeed, the ripple effects of such a tariff would upend the entire global film ecosystem. Modern cinema is inherently international: A Georgian director might work with a French editor, an American actor and a German financier.

So sure, many American films use crew and facilities in Canada. But international co-productions are a growing cornerstone of the global film industry, particularly in Europe. Belgium produces up to 72% of its films in partnership with foreign nations, often France. Other notable co-production leaders include Luxembourg (45% with France), Slovakia (38% with Czechia) and Switzerland (31% with France). These partnerships are often driven by shared language, which is why the U.S. is also frequently involved in co-productions with Britain as well as Canada. Israel too has leaned into this model, using agreements with countries such as France, Germany and Canada to gain access to international audiences and funding mechanisms.

The U.S. government cannot unmake this system and should not try to do so. To penalize “foreign-made” films is to punish Americans too — artists, producers and distributors who thrive on collaboration. You can’t build a wall around storytelling.

Supporters of the tariff argue it protects American workers. But Hollywood is already one of the most globalized industries on Earth, and the idea that it suffers from too many foreign films is absurd. If anything, it suffers from too few. The result of this policy won’t be a thriving domestic market — but a quieter, flatter, more parochial one. A landscape where the next “Amerikatsi” never gets seen, where a generation of Armenian American youth never discovers their history through a movie screen.

If America still wants to lead in the 21st century — not just militarily and economically but morally — it should lead through culture and avoid isolation.

Stories like “Amerikatsi” remind us why that matters. A film that begins with a boy smuggled in a crate across the ocean ends with a message of joy and resilience. That’s not just Armenian history — it’s American history too. It cannot be separated. Unless we want that kind of storytelling priced out of our cinemas (and off our streaming platforms), we must keep the doors open.

For America to turn its back on stories like these would be a betrayal of everything film can be. And it would impoverish American society too. That way lies not greatness but provinciality.

Alexis Alexanian is a New York City-based film producer, consultant and educator whose credits include “A League of Their Own” and “Pieces of April.” She is a past president of New York Women in Film & Television and sits on the board of BAFTA North America.

A luxurious airport has many posh amenities to keep passengers entertained and relaxed during layovers, and one traveller shared what she did during her eight-hour stay there

While many of us have to grin and bare threadbare airports during long waits for flights, there are a select few that offer passengers a more luxurious experience. Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea, is a traveller’s paradise, boasting an array of facilities to keep you relaxed and entertained.

Its Spa on Air provides showers, sauna, and even a sleeping room. There’s also a cinema, ice skating rink, Korean cultural performances, exhibitions, the K-Culture Museum, rest zones, and nap rooms, all within the airport. Lucy Q, a New York content creator who relocated to London in 2023, found herself with an eight-hour stopover at Incheon and decided to indulge in a spa day.

However, Lucy opted not to use the airport’s on-site spa and instead headed over to Cimer Spa in the nearby Paradise City complex.

She chronicled her lavish experience on YouTube, showing off the spa that’s just a free shuttle bus ride away from the airport.

Cimer prides itself on blending traditional Korean jjimjilbang culture with contemporary comforts, featuring a variety of pools and even a tornado slide. It’s a hit among long-haul layover passengers like Lucy, looking to unwind before their next flight.

In her YouTube video, Lucy shared her journey: “From the arrival terminal I took the free Paradise City bus to Paradise City. I went through the hotel and out the other side and you’ll reach the spa.”

Lucy chose to buy the aqua spa ticket, which gave her a access to all pools and saunas over a six-hour period.

Adults can grab this ticket for 60,000 KRW (£32.24), or 70,000 KRW (£37.61) during peak season from July 1 to August 31.

She detailed the process, saying that once you’ve paid your entry fee, you’re given a wristband for access to a locker and all the aquatic attractions.

Lucy commented: “The pool portion of the spa had one main room with a bunch of smaller spa things off it, like this cave pool, the glass infinity pool, different temperature pools with a DJ booth, water slides and so much more.”

The American expat then highlighted a “massive variety of spa rooms” on offer, including an amethyst room, a salt room, and a light therapy room – where she nodded off for an hour or so.

In the locker room, you’re handed traditional bath house robes to wear but Lucy suggests choosing a larger size after finding the medium uncomfortably snug.

There’s even a spot to eat at the spa. While digging into a pizza – the “cheapest thing” available – Lucy observed: “This section is also where they had food. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu and it was surprisingly really good.”

Wrapping up her review, she noted: “On the roof they have a foot spa, an infinity pool and these interesting coloured baths. There was also a gender segregated nude sauna where you obviously could not film but there were hot and cold pools and it was really nice alternating between the two.”

Lucy concluded her travel tale by expressing she “could not have found a better way to spend a layover”, detailing that her entire experience, which covered both entry and food, came in at a mere $50, amounting to roughly £36.79.

Colombo, Sri Lanka — As a girl, when Srimathi Mallika Kaluarachchi would go to the cinema with her family, and a man on the screen would hit the character played by superstar Malini Fonseka, Kaluarachchi would cry.

Then she would turn to her father in desperation. “We used to scream at the screen, telling our father to save her,” Kaluarachchi, now 68, recalled. “That was how much we loved her.”

On Monday, Kaluarachchi joined thousands of fans in bidding a final goodbye to Fonseka, who died on May 24 at the age of 78 while receiving treatment in hospital. Neither Fonseka’s family nor the hospital has publicly revealed the nature of her illness. One of the country’s most popular actresses, Fonseka was widely regarded as the queen of Sri Lankan cinema.

She was cremated with full state honours, as fans dressed in the mourning colour of white flocked to Colombo’s Independence Square to catch a glimpse of her coffin before she was cremated. Songs from Fonseka’s films were played while a projector drone flew above the crowd, displaying a montage of scenes from across her career.

Describing Fonseka as “a true icon of Sri Lankan cinema whose grace and talent inspired generations”, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that “her legacy will forever shine in our hearts and on our screens”.

A trailblazer

Fonseka, who starred in more than 140 films, had a career in Sinhala cinema spanning more than five decades.

“Whenever we saw her, we’d forget all the pain we had in our hearts,” said Kaluarachchi, wiping away tears. “Now, we know films aren’t real, but when we were children, we didn’t realise.”

Fonseka was special, Kaluarachchi said, because of the way she represented how everyday people experienced love and, often, the violence that comes with it for women in patriarchal societies.

Fonseka started her career as a stage actress before making her film debut with the 1968 film Punchi Baba.

Her popularity peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, as she collaborated with renowned directors, including Lester James Peries and Dharmasena Pathiraja.

Many of her most famous roles shared a common theme: the struggles of women in a male-dominated society. She played a wife murdered by her husband in the film Nidhanaya (1972), a college student in a complicated relationship in Thushara (1973), a village girl hounded by male attention in Eya Dan Loku Lamayek (1975), and a girl from a rural fishing village enticed by the big city lifestyle, in Bambaru Avith (1978).

This success continued into the 1980s, when she also expanded into directorial ventures, including in the films Sasara Chethana (1984) and Ahimsa (1987).

‘A bridge’ across generations

She also starred in the first Indian-Sri Lankan co-production Pilot Premnath in 1978, opposite legendary Indian Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan.

“She never limited herself to one category. She was in commercial cinema and arthouse cinema,” said 27-year-old teacher Prabuddhika Kannagara. “She played a village girl, a young girl, a married woman, a mother, and even a grandmother. She represented women across all generations.”

Kannagara was one of the last mourners at the funeral, sitting and watching as sparks emanated from the white cloth tower in the square, specially erected for Fonseka’s cremation, according to Buddhist rituals.

She told Al Jazeera that Fonseka had acted as a “bridge” across various eras of cinema, from black-and-white to digital, and had remained a star not only for her mother’s generation, but also for her own.

Fonseka was a five-time Best Actress winner at Sri Lanka’s Presidential Film Awards. Her most recent win was in 2006 for her role in Ammawarune, a film she also directed. She also won international accolades at the Moscow International Film Festival and the New Delhi Film Festival.

She became Sri Lanka’s first female television drama director in the 1980s, a time when women’s participation behind the camera was unusual. Fonseka also had a short-lived foray into politics, serving as a member of Sri Lanka’s parliament from 2010 to 2015 under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Film critic and journalist Anuradha Kodagoda told Al Jazeera that Fonseka was “rare and unique in Sri Lankan cinema” for the range of characters she played.

Petite and fair, with an oval face and soft features, Fonseka was a “pioneer” in representing working-class women onscreen, and “represented the beauty idol for Sri Lankan women”, said Kodagoda.

“She portrayed her characters very organically and authentically. That is the magic of it, I think,” Kodagoda said.

‘There will be no other queens’

Many mourners, some of whom travelled long distances to attend the funeral, recalled moments when they had met or spoken with Fonseka.

“She was a role model for us. We saw her as an example when we went to the cinema,” said 56-year-old jam factory worker Pushpa Hemalatha. “She wasn’t arrogant. We loved her when we were young.”

Fonseka’s final acting performance was in the 2024 music video Eya Wasanathaya Nowe, playing an elderly woman remembering her deceased husband.

Ivanka Peiris, an actress and musician who acted with her in the TV drama Hithuwakkara, told Al Jazeera that Fonseka was “very empowering” as a role model for women, and “everything” for younger actresses in the industry.

And, she said, Fonseka would never be replaced.

“She’s the queen. That’s it,” Peiris said. “There will be no other queens in Sri Lanka. She will be the first and the last.”

Major power outage hits the prominent film festival on its closing day and impacts 160,000 homes in the area.

French police were investigating a possible arson attack as being the main cause for a power outage which hit the Alpes-Maritimes region in southern France, including Cannes which is hosting its world-famous annual film festival.

“We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,” a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie said on Saturday, adding that no arrests had been made at this stage.

The local authority for the Alpes-Maritimes region had said earlier on Saturday that the western part of the area, which includes Cannes, was suffering from a major electricity outage and that grid operator RTE France was working on restoring power.

The outage, which affected 160,000 homes, according to RTE and regional officials, started shortly after 10am local time (08:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Police sources said the outage was caused by an overnight fire, probably an arson attack, at a high-voltage substation in the village of Tanneron.

Traffic lights were knocked out and businesses closed on the main shopping street of the Alpes-Maritimes holiday destination.

Separate power outages swept across the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France on Monday, disrupting critical infrastructure and airport operations. Officials denied foul play.

While Spain and Portugal suffered blackouts last month, the French Basque Country saw brief power outages with interruptions lasting only a few minutes, according to the French electricity transmission network.

The latest outage came just hours before the 78th Cannes Film Festival is due to close on Saturday evening with an award ceremony at the Palais des Festivals.

Despite the power cut, festival organisers said switching to an alternative electricity power supply enabled them to “maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony”.

After a politically charged two weeks, a jury led by French actor Juliette Binoche is expected to announce the winners among 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or for best film.

This year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza and United States President Donald Trump were the biggest talking points at the festival. More than 900 actors and filmmakers signed an open letter denouncing the genocide in Gaza, according to the organisers.

CHELSEA goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli has kicked off a row with neighbours after chopping down huge 40ft trees at his Surrey mansion.

The Blues’ stopper was given the go-ahead to extend his luxury pad near the club’s Cobham training ground – complete with a cinema and games room.

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Planners at the local council told him he could chop down two trees to make way for the proposed development but neighbours say he has razed more to the ground – without permission.

They claim the 30-40ft trees are decades old, although not protected by a Tree Preservation Order, and help prevent overlooking on the leafy estate.

The former Fulham goalkeeper was initially granted planning permission for a front and rear extension including a ground floor family room, kitchen and breakfast room and cinema.

He also wants to demolish a porch and chimney stack and add dormer windows for a fourth bedroom and games room on the second floor.

Documents filed at Elmbridge Borough Council state that building work started last year but has not yet been completed.

Bettinelli, 32, has now submitted amended plans for tree planting and landscaping to allow for the removal of trees.

In a letter of objection, one resident wrote: “The initial proposal for ‘bush and hedge pruning’ turned into the felling of multiple 30ft trees, decades old.

“This has significantly affected local wildlife (there were documented owls nesting) and privacy/light shading of multiple properties around.

“The new proposal to replace four trees is well short of any remedial measure in my view and should be significantly enhanced.”

Another neighbour wrote: “More hedging has been removed to erect the fence.

“This was not done by the neighbouring property.

“And versus the previous plan, there is now less commitment to hedging than before.

“As a reminder, 30-40ft trees were cut down without permission.

“There should be no reduction in commitment shown on the plan versus the one before.”

Bettinelli joined Chelsea in 2021 to boost the Blues’ goalkeeping ranks following the departure of Willy Caballero, having been out of contract at Fulham.

He spent a decade at Craven Cottage, making 120 appearances for the Whites and also represented England‘s under-21 team earlier in his career.

The 6ft,4in stopper bought his Cobham pad for £1.5million in September, 2023, before applying for a Grand Designs-style makeover.

In another objection, the local residents’ association said it was “saddened and deeply concerned that the developer, architect and builder have breached the conditions imposed on the allowed application”.

They added: “Mature trees provide benefits to humans and wildlife alike, trees also provide wildlife corridors to and from the surrounding green spaces, woods, commons and heathland of Cobham.

“Trees also provide screening to neighbours’ properties and garden amenity spaces which they should be able to continue the enjoyment of using for everyday activity without the perception of overlooking.”

Council officials are expected to make a decision on the trees later this month.

Bettinelli’s planning agent was approached for comment.

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