“At Hera, women were not only performing on stage but working behind the scenes as producers, engineers and more. It’s something Itzel González, festival promoter, and Ximena Sariñana, Mexican singer-songwriter, co-creator and director of the Hera committee wanted to highlight with the event.” - Seattle Times (AP)
“As a costume designer, I see the white T-shirt as the ultimate blank canvas. I’ve cut up white tees to define a character’s unique style; I’ve used their simplicity to accentuate the silhouette of a suit. … Will I find a way to create an iconic moment?” - The New York Times
Now all you have to do is that little detail of finishing the film before its festival premiere. “It’s all a normal part of the process when postproduction and festival calendars overlap” - normal, but intensely stressful. - The New York Times
Wait, don’t lick that bright green cover - which probably contains arsenic. “Since the project launched five years ago, Tedone's team has cataloged more than 300 books containing the pigment, a figure that's likely just a drop in the ink pot.” - NPR
More than TikTok, the stage at the Reading Festival in Britain celebrates podcast stars, YouTube stars, and more. One 20-something: “Everybody watches TikTok … so to then actually see some people, and to take a break from live music - it's great times.” - BBC
“Saudi Arabian director Ali Kalthami was born in 1983, the year the country’s cinemas were shut down. Growing up a committed cinephile and guerrilla film-maker, he was on tenterhooks, waiting for the ban to be lifted. But when it finally happened, in 2018, he was daunted.” - The Guardian (UK)
Sawai says that while filming, “I didn’t understand the intensity of what I was mentally going through, and how much it had affected me, but it speaks volumes now. I want to approach all my projects the way I approach Mariko.” Alert: Spoilers in the article. - The New York Times
“The summer setting is a great vibe for my viewing experiment. The plot plays out slowly, and the warm setting is calming. Of course, it’s intercut with family members hitting each other and screaming, ‘Calm down! You want a cigarette?’ Like I said, ‘Frenchness.’” - Washington Post
“'I prefer a thousand crying Arab mothers to one Jewish mother because these are my people,’ Kalimian wrote in Hebrew in response to a commenter in the once-public Facebook post, referring to Arabs as ‘the sons of death,’ an expression for people who deserve to die.” - Hyperallergic
“Amanda Jones is a Louisiana middle-school librarian who sleeps with a shotgun under her bed and carries a pistol when she travels the back roads” thanks to right-wing attacks on books - and now her. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
The Pompidou is closing for five years, starting in 2025 because, well, “If we don’t take immediate measures, the building will collapse: There are pieces of metal falling off of it every day.” But Brussels, Seoul, Málaga, and other places are stepping up. - The New York Times
Is something going right for a beloved media product? This doesn’t sound like 2024 - and yet. The Onion, which many people had long given up for dead, has been bought, revived, stripped of terrible ad content, given a new platform - and a print subscription. - The Verge
The DNC balloon designer was fighting for his life at the hospital, but “a team of 55 balloon artists from 18 states — and five from Canada — gathered in Chicago last week on their own dime, blowing up and tying thousands of balloons in DeLorenzo’s honor.” - Washington Post (MSN)
Chaos just as Skydance was heading to the finish line: "Seagram liquor company heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. this week persuaded Paramount’s independent board members to consider his rival bid for the Redstone family’s investment firm, National Amusements Inc., and a minority stake in Paramount.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
One performer who was new to the 2024 Fringe: “Everyone is telling me you can’t understand the Fringe until you go to the Fringe. … I’m hoping to make the right decisions and I’m very excited, but I also feel like throwing up every day, which I guess is part of the process.” - The New York Times
