The Guardian Culture

Dazzling, delightful – and unfairly dismissed: Stephen Hough on the art of the transcription

Bach, Beethoven and Brahms did it. Liszt took it to such virtuosic heights that the entire genre almost collapsed. Ahead of his own album of transcriptions, the pianist and composer looks at the history of reworking existing musicThey have long been the norm in the world of jazz clubs and hotel lounges, but transcriptions in the classical world were for many years a bit of a naughty word – or at least a guilty pleasure. To arrange someone else’s music in a way they hadn’t originally intended, of

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

ReelShort Partners With Philippines’ Globe in Latest Step in Southeast Asia Expansion

The leading microdrama platform's tie-up with the Philippine telco, unveiled at APOS, comes just two months after a similar deal with Thailand's AIS.

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Culture

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales review – a playable love letter to Zelda

PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, PC; Team Asano/Square EnixUpbeat, charmingly retro RPG full of treasure-hunting, temple-roaming, monster-slaying and princess-saving is an absolute blast to playYou can’t help but wonder if developer Team Asano is in a private competition with itself to come up with the most ridiculous name for a video game. Following Project Triangle Strategy and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy we have this mouthful: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. It’s a pl

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

‘A Brighter Word Than Bright,’ From Turkish Director Belkis Bayrak, Explores Grief, Resilience in Lives Shattered by Suicide

Rising Turkish filmmaker Belkis Bayrak is prepping her sophomore feature, “A Brighter Word Than Bright,” which she’s presenting this week in the Transilvania Pitch Stop co-production forum of the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival. The director’s debut feature, “Gülizar,” world premiered in Toronto’s Discovery strand and played San Sebastian’s New Directors Competition. A portrait of grief and resilience, […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Myles Smith: My Mess, My Heart, My Life review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(RCA)He can write a decent rousing chorus, but the Stargazing hitmaker’s influences couldn’t be more obvious if he tried – right down to a ghastly Galway Girl sequelYou know what you’re getting with Myles Smith, an artist who set his musical stall out early on. Before he was the winner of the rising star award at the 2025 Brits, he started out at open mic nights, performing selections from the oeuvres of Mumford & Sons, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, still his avowed biggest influences today. The

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

How ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Spent an Entire Year as a Blockbuster for Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)

June 20 marks the one-year anniversary of Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” release. Since then, the animated feature has spent 52 consecutive weeks on the streamer’s Top 10 list, shattering records and making history along the way — including becoming Netflix’s most-watched movie ever and winning the Oscar and Grammy for best original song for “Golden,” […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Jakarta Unveils Tax Rebates and Production Incentives in Bid to Become Southeast Asia Film Hub, Expands Netflix Partnership

Jakarta Vice Governor Rano Karno used an appearance at the APOS conference in Bali on Thursday to lay out a six-point initiative to transform Indonesia’s capital into a leading production destination, while separately holding talks with senior Netflix executives on expanding the streamer’s output in the city. The centerpiece of the package is a tax […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

JioHotstar Sees AI, Connected TV and Commerce Driving India’s Next Streaming Phase

Speaking during the APOS conference’s “India Streaming: The Product View” session, JioStar executives Bharath Ram and Vijay Seshadri outlined how JioHotstar is building its product and engineering roadmap around consumer behavior, artificial intelligence and connected television. For Bharath Ram, chief product officer of JioStar, product development begins with understanding India’s highly diverse audience base, which […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

WIA Celebrates 10 Years of WIA World Summit at Annecy, Announces Bonnie Arnold’s Fireside Chat and Asks What Comes Next (EXCLUSIVE)

Women in Animation has announced its lineup for this year’s WIA World Summit at Annecy, themed “Frame by Frame: A Global Celebration of Women and Nonbinary Creators.”  The summit will feature producer Bonnie Arnold, who will take part in a fireside chat.  “As we celebrate 10 years of the summit, we’re also asking what comes […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Netflix Announces ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Immersive House Experiences Coming to Dallas and Philadelphia (EXCLUSIVE)

“KPop Demon Hunters: The Immersive Experience” is coming to Netflix House locations in Dallas and Philadelphia. The news comes on the film’s one year anniversary. The ticketed experience will open at both locations this holiday season. Additionally, fan screenings of “KPop Demon Hunters” are scheduled to take place at both houses on June 20. Marian […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Banijay Kids & Family Picks up Heavy Metal Satire ‘Belzebubs,’ Announces Voice Cast and Shares First Clip: ‘Exceptional Series with a Pulsing Dark Heart’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Banijay Kids & Family has secured distribution rights to Pyjama Films’ mockumentary-style adult animation “Belzebubs.”  Currently in production, it’s already confirmed for YLE in Finland and TV3 in Catalonia, with presales also secured for RUV (Iceland) and Prima (Czechia).  The black-and-white animated series is based on the globally popular webcomic created by JP Ahonen, which […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Indonesia’s MD Entertainment Bets on IP and Microdramas for Global Push

As Indonesia’s entertainment industry gains greater international visibility, MD Entertainment, one of the country’s top studios, is increasingly looking beyond local success and toward global partnerships, franchise development and emerging content formats. During the “Indonesia At Scale” session at the APOS conference, MD Entertainment founder and CEO Manoj Punjabi outlined the company’s ambitions to expand […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘It’s where the poetry is written in cinema language’: the female editors behind cinema’s masterpieces

In an industry dominated by men, many women dedicate themselves to the craft of editing – as well as managing directors’ egos – to create some of the most celebrated and memorable big-screen classicsBehind every great director, to coin a phrase, is a great editor – and as the tributes paid earlier this month to the late Marcia Lucas, Oscar-winning editor of Star Wars: Episodes IV to VI, and former wife of creator George Lucas, reminded us, that editor is often a woman. In a historically male-dom

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Joel and Ethan Coen to Be Honored at the 18th Edition of the Lumière Festival

Joel and Ethan Coen will be honored at the 18th edition of the Lumière Festival, which runs from Oct. 10-18 in Lyon, France. The filmmaking brothers will receive the Lumière Award at the festival, which is focused on classic cinema and iconic filmmakers, and is headed by Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux. The Lumière Award is […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson to Play Teen Angel in Secret Cinema’s ‘Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical’

Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson has been cast as Teen Angel in Secret Cinema and TodayTix’s return staging of “Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical,” set to run at Evolution London in Battersea Park from July 22 to Sept. 13. Wilson joins a cast that includes Giórgios Michaelídes as Danny and Archangelo Ciulla as Kenickie, alongside […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘A sacred kind of sound’: inside a solar-powered journey to preserve the music of church organs

Musician Michael Cloud Duguay’s new album was born from a mission to capture the sound of the majestic yet increasingly rare instrumentsMichael Cloud Duguay and his band of collaborators were nearing the end of their pipe organ tour of Newfoundland when they encountered a hitch in Aguathuna, a town of about 400 people on a craggy peninsula that juts out from the Canadian island’s south-western edge. For the past week, they’d been showing up at old churches in remote communities like this one, pr

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Locarno: Rick Baker, Seven-Time Oscar Winner and Makeup Effects Artist, to Receive Vision Award 

"Over his long career, Rick Baker has transformed Michael Jackson into a zombie in Thriller and turned Jim Carrey into the Grinch."

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Bongeziwe Mabandla faced addiction, illness and ‘backstabbers’. How has the South African singer stayed so upbeat?

An indie star in his homeland, Mabandla’s fame is growing abroad – and his uplifting new album is full of existential insight after some of the toughest years of his lifeAs the camera pulls back from Bongeziwe Mabandla in the video for his recent single Yalwa, the true stars of the show reveal themselves: two women, dressed in a mix of crisp white and black traditional isiXhosa umbhaco garments and chic designer wear. Sure, Mabandla himself strikes a compelling figure in the centre of the frame

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Limonero Films Partners With Parad Media for Worldwide Sales on ‘Bock Saga,’ a Tale of ‘True Crime, Cults, Eccentric Characters and a Treasure’ (EXCLUSIVE) 

Barcelona-based Limonero Films has nabbed world rights to distribute “Bock Saga,” an original, four-part true crime series produced by Finnish group Parad Media. The cult-related series, which premieres on Finnish broadcaster YLE on July 27, has already pre-sold to NRK in Norway, Swedish broadcaster SVT and Denmark’s DR. The series examines the enigmatic story of the […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026

Variety

Microdrama Is Streaming’s New Top-of-Funnel in Southeast Asia, Research Finds

Streaming platforms racing to acquire microdrama content are not simply chasing a trending format – they are buying a direct line into the fast-attention layer where Southeast Asian audiences spend the overwhelming majority of their digital leisure time, according to new research presented at the APOS conference in Bali by Dhivya T, head of insights […]

entertainment  Jun 18, 2026