Latest news with #Ehrenreich
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Human rights organisation, COSATU and economists debate future of social grants
South Africa's economy is not creating enough jobs, so what happens to the millions of people who currently rely on social grants? This was the question raised by activists, economists and labour leaders at a panel discussion hosted by the Black Sash in Cape Town on Wednesday. The event was part of the organisation's 70th anniversary celebrations, and looked at the impact of removing social assistance in a country with high youth unemployment, food insecurity and growing inequality. The General Household Survey released by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) on Tuesday, shows that the proportion of people receiving social grants grew from about 13% in 2003 to 31% in 2019 and surged to 40% in 2024 'due to the introduction of the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant'. Rachel Bukasa, Executive Director of Black Sash, said social grants are not a luxury, but a necessary response to high unemployment and poverty. 'Grants are an important stop-gap to the poverty and unemployment that exists. One of the biggest misconceptions when we talk about grants is that we don't want people to work. When we call for grants, it's in the absence of the jobs that the government has promised year after year.' She said while job creation remains the goal, the economy doesn't offer enough work for those who need it. Bukasa dismissed claims that grants breed dependency, saying they are a vital safety net while the government works to improve the job market. COSATU's Tony Ehrenreich agreed with Bukasa. He said the alternative to social support from the state is people falling into hunger and desperation. 'Grants are only a requirement when the market has failed. If the market is perfect there will be no need for grants, but the market is not perfect so we need to take care of people in the interim … It's not a question of jobs or grants. It's both,' Ehrenreich said. StatsSA reported that the official unemployment rate stood at about 33% in the first quarter of 2025. The expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, is 43%. Ehrenreich said these statistics show the current economic direction is not working. 'We can say the system has failed if we look at the unemployment rate and deepening inequality … Must poor people pay for the failure of the rich and the public policymakers who drive around in their fancy cars? That can't be the response.' But political economist Phumlani Majozi said the current grant system is putting too much pressure on the country's fiscus. 'South Africans agree that the best way to move forward as a society is for people to have jobs … In our budget, the social grant expenditure is massive. 65% of our expenditure goes towards social grants, subsidised housing etc … Fiscally, it's not something that is manageable.' He criticised the lack of government vision. 'Where is the plan from the president and his cabinet to say by a certain year these are the targets … It doesn't seem like Enoch Godongwana has a plan.' Majozi said the system discouraged reform. 'There will be no incentive for government to change and pursue policies to encourage economic growth if our first argument is that we need social grants.' To which Bukasa responded that social security is a right, not a favour. 'Social assistance is protected by the Constitution. So we need to do away with the notion that it's a favour the government is doing … The fact that we have high needs for social protection right now is a reflection of governments inability to deliver on job creation.' This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
Los Angeles Times
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Alden Ehrenreich's mission to make L.A. a ‘theater city' involves a 119-year-old trolley station
Alden Ehrenreich should be tired. He's just returned from Italy after about three months of filming across Europe. He's off to the Philippines for his next film tomorrow. But as he sits under a blooming citrus tree at the entrance of his new theater, he's overcome with energy. He could rhapsodize about live theater for hours if you let him. The actor, who starred in his first film — Francis Ford Coppola's 'Tetro' — while still in high school, just wants to play. After more than a decade in the industry, he longed to find a space to do just that. He yearned for the uninhibited artistic exploration of his late teens and early 20s when he was a part of theater groups with friends. 'That sense of freedom and play is kind of our birthright. It's innate to us,' he said. 'It's sort of artists' job, in a way, to fight for and protect that freedom.' So he bought a historic substation in Cypress Park, determined to make it an artistic hub where he and others could get back to youthful creativity that's often 'quelled' by industry expectations, Ehrenreich said. Huron Station Playhouse, which celebrated its soft opening last fall, has become his 'pride and joy.' The L.A. native had a marathon year in 2023 — appearing in 'Cocaine Bear,' 'Fair Play,' best picture winner 'Oppenheimer' and writing, directing and starring in the short film 'Shadow Brother Sunday' — and he's not slowing down anytime soon. In just a few months, he'll appear in Disney+'s Marvel miniseries 'Ironheart.' He says he not only loved his character, but his collaborators too. He's also set to star opposite fellow 'Star Wars' alum Daisy Ridley in 'The Last Resort,' appear in the horror film 'Weapons' and star alongside Helen Mirren in 'Switzerland,' an adaptation of the play by the same name. With a strenuous work and travel schedule, Ehrenreich said he felt the need for an artistic home base. When he came across a building that predates the Hollywood sign, he knew he found the perfect space to reinvigorate himself and other Angeleno artists. 'This has been extremely helpful for me, just psychologically,' he said. 'You end up living this very itinerant existence. And this,' he said, motioning to the blades of grass outside the theater's entrance he'd been fiddling with while speaking, 'could not be more, not that. To be able to put love and attention and growth into something that continues to be there is really helpful.' Ehrenreich wanted a place where art could be produced without the pressure of commercial success. 'What business does, understandably, is focus on results. 'How much money is this going to make? Who's going to see it? Blah, blah, blah.' And when you're focused on results, you can't really play because every gesture, every move that you make has this baggage on top of it,' he said. 'The true magic and joy of these things doesn't always survive the infrastructure of the business side.' That being said, Ehrenreich has appeared in a number of big-budget projects that were subject to that commercial pressure, including his starring role as Han Solo in the 2018 'Star Wars' prequel, 'Solo: A Star Wars Story,' which underperformed at the box office. But he appreciates both the major studio production side of his resume and the theater side. 'It's harder than it's ever been nowadays to only do one [genre or style] for a lot of different reasons,' he said. 'The most important thing is that you still get to use the muscle of the thing that you really care the most about. It also is possible in some of those commercial environments, when it's helmed by somebody who has a really personal vision, for those things to be genuinely creative.' Another part of his mission to 'reenvision L.A. as a theater city' is to make Huron Station Playhouse a watering hole for artists. After play readings last fall that launched the theater, cast members and theatergoers mingled and conversed on the patio outside the building. Ehrenreich said this is a crucial part of how he hopes the Playhouse will establish a collaborative artistic community in what can often feel like an isolated city. 'A lot of actors only meet each other at parties thrown by Hollywood entities, agencies or companies. I could meet someone who's the most exciting artist to me in the world. The conversation we're gonna have there is not gonna lead to the great American novel. It's just not,' he said. 'I just always felt kind of hungry for that. And I think in L.A., it has to be a little bit more of a fight to carve out that ground.' When he began searching for commercial real estate in L.A., Ehrenreich said this was the first place that came up on Google. The same person who, years earlier, had performed in original plays — written by friends — under a construction light in an abandoned house, had finally found a permanent space to forge the theatrical hub he'd been dreaming of for his hometown. He got the keys to the Huron Substation in 2021. The Huron Substation was built in 1906 in Cypress Park to convert the Los Angeles Railway Yellow Cars to a higher voltage. A relic in a town where not much is over a century old, the building still maintains the original brickwork, although some spots bear the remnants of a fire in the '80s. The 45-foot ceiling and exposed wood beams would be the stars of the space if it weren't for the giant chandelier lighting the main floor. Ehrenreich brought in furniture and decor with the help of his mom, interior designer Sari Ehrenreich. Much of the building was well maintained and didn't require much work, but they added a restroom by the entrance where Ehrenreich and his collaborators got creative, crafting an intricate tile design on the floor and installing antique lamps from an old department store. A spacious mezzanine sits above the stage and seating area and it will function as a shared workspace for artists. Ehrenreich envisions a place where writers can ask peers for help with a script or toss around pitches and workshop ideas in a safe and welcoming environment. Downstairs, there is no fixed stage so directors can choose where the audience will be in relation to the actors. The close proximity between performers and patrons creates a sense of intimacy that's difficult to replicate, said Julie Cohn, the executive director of Huron Station Playhouse. 'There's an electricity, first of all, being in a space like this, but an electricity in being this close to an actor who is really going through something right in front of you,' Cohn said. 'Nothing is polished about it, it's super raw and really electric in a way that not only I've missed, but I think everyone has missed.' Those who attended the first performances at the theater — readings of the plays 'Gloria,' 'Intimate Apparel,' 'Cock' and 'You Got Older' — were treated to a unique experience with cast members, including Stephanie Hsu, Alia Shawkat, Chris Perfetti and Ehrenreich. The readings were sold out weeks in advance. While that early buzz was exciting for Ehrenreich and his team at the Playhouse, he said it also validated his theory that Angelenos were just as hungry as he was for an intimate style of theater like the rich off-Broadway scene in New York. 'I definitely feel that need for people to be together. I need it,' he said. 'I'm the audience member that I'm trying to speak to in certain ways.' All of this ties back to Ehrenreich's deeply rooted love for theater. He is a true student of the arts, rattling off actors he admires and recommending a biography he's currently reading on director Mike Nichols. Ehrenreich's first performance in a play — a production of 'Our Town' in which he played George and had his first kiss at age 13 — lit a fire under him. When he lived in New York, he saw an off-Broadway production of the show seven times. 'That play has a certain magic to it about appreciating life, as we're living it, that still completely bowls me over,' he said. But don't expect to see Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize winner at Huron Station Playhouse. Ehrenreich and Cohn agreed they'd focus on contemporary plays at the start of the theater's life, straying away from classics or abstract titles. Ehrenreich said he wants to spotlight material that even non-theater buffs will appreciate and connect with, and highlight strong characters to inspire moving performances. The next reading will come at the end of May for the play 'Killing and Dying,' directed by Tony nominee Anne Kauffman and co-produced by Ari Aster's production company, Square Peg. Next, screenwriting and playwriting circles will kick off, and the Playhouse team plans to ramp up other programming for young artists. Between movie and TV shoots, Ehrenreich hopes to take a seat in the director's chair for a reading himself. While Ehrenreich could — and gladly would — speak about the theater's goals and his dreams for the space at length, he and the crew at Huron Station Playhouse seem to sum it up perfectly in the 'house values' posted outside the entrance, just below the plaque designating the site an L.A. historic cultural monument. Those values are: Be present. Have fun. Treat every person with kindness and respect. Give it all you got. And lastly — believe in art.
See - Sada Elbalad
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Daisy Ridley and Alden Ehrenreich Reteam for Rom-Com "The Last Resort"
Yara Sameh Star Wars vets Daisy Ridley and Alden Ehrenreich are starring in Donald Petrie's Philippines-set romantic comedy, "The Last Resort", which Asia Pacific Films is producing and financing. Production begins in April. CAA Media Finance is handling worldwide distribution rights. The script from Karen McCullah (Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You) follows Brooke (Ridley), who is determined to prove herself worthy of running her father's hotel empire. She travels to the Philippines to scout a new resort location and meets Ben (Ehrenreich), a charming expatriate pilot who helps her discover the beauty of the country—and a newfound sense of freedom. As love and duty collide, Brooke must choose between the life she's built and the one she's only just begun to love. Petrie has directed such rom-com hits as "Miss Congeniality" and "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days". He also directed the late Gene Hackman's "Welcome to Mooseport". Manuel V. Pangilinan serves as executive producer of the film, which is produced by Ernesto (Bong) Sta. Maria. Jr. (Rosario), and Raja Collins (True Memoirs of an International Assassin, The Wrath of Becky). Simon Heo, Akshay Mehta, and Rick Dugdale as Co-Producers. Ridley was just at SXSW for the stateside premiere of Zak Hilditch's zombie survival thriller We Bury the Dead; watch our interview with her below. She was also at SXSW last year for the noir thriller Magpie, based on an original story that she developed. She also won rave reviews last year for her turn as Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, in "Young Woman and the Sea" (88% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Other credits include Martin Campbell's London-set action-thriller "Cleaner" and the Sundance film "Sometimes I Think About Dying", which she starred in and produced. Last year, Ridley was recognized for her dynamic roles in cinema, receiving both the Rising Star Award at the Deauville Film Festival and the Lumiere Award at the SCAD Film Festival. She is known for playing the Jedi Rey in "Star Wars Episodes VII-IX", that trio of pics grossing $4.4 billion at the global box office. She's set to reprise her Rey role in the upcoming "Star Wars: New Jedi Order". Ehrenreich is currently shooting the feature "Switzerland", opposite Helen Mirren for Film Nation. He most recently wrapped a starring role in Zach Cregger's New Line Cinema feature "Weapons", which is scheduled for MLK weekend 2026. Next up, Ehrenreich will be seen starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the limited series "Ironheart", a spinoff of the Black Panther films. Last year, Ehrenreich starred in Universal's box office hit "Cocaine Bear", opposite Keri Russell, Ray Liotta and O'Shea Jackson and directed by Elizabeth Banks, as well as Christopher Nolan's multi-Oscar winning "Oppenheimer", which grossed $975.8M worldwide. He also starred alongside Phoebe Dynevor in the highly praised "Fair Play", which was acquired by Netflix out of Sundance, and went on to debut as No. 1 on the streamer, amassing 12.6M views in the first three days. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) News Ireland Replaces Former Israeli Embassy with Palestinian Museum News Israeli PM Diagnosed with Stage 3 Prostate Cancer Lifestyle Maguy Farah Reveals 2025 Expectations for Pisces News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
Miami Herald
12-02-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Gulliver girls' soccer rounding back into form after first playoff win in three seasons
Gulliver's girls' soccer program had long been one of the most successful in Miami-Dade County. But in recent years, the Raiders had lost their way and fallen from their lofty status. Seniors like Samantha Ehrenreich have been part of Gulliver's journey back to prominence. And on Tuesday afternoon, Ehrenreich sparked another big step on that road when she kickstarted a 3-2 comeback win over MAST Academy in a Region 4-3A quarterfinal at the Makos' home field. 'It's a younger team this year, and the younger girls have brought a new vision for the team,' said Ehrenreich, who has played for the Raiders for three seasons and is one of three seniors along with goalkeeper Ana Levy-Armesto and defender Vicky Sanz. 'Since the beginning, we've been about winning every game and that hasn't always been the case.' This is Gulliver's first winning season in girls' soccer since the 2019-2020 campaign. The Raiders (12-6-2) did not even make the regional playoffs the past two seasons, going a combined 9-22-9 over that span. They advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2022 and will next travel to Davie to face NSU University School on Friday at 7 p.m. The Sharks, who advanced via a forfeit by Pine Crest, have advanced to at least the state semifinals each of the past two seasons. But it almost didn't happen had the Raiders not overcome the odds. MAST (14-4-2), which was eliminated in the regional quarterfinal round for the fourth consecutive season, notched the first two goals of the game within the first 20 minutes of play with the second coming on a defensive miscue by Levy-Armesto when a clearing kick ricocheted off Makos' Violeta Tuneus and into the Raiders' goal. Eight minutes later, Ehrenreich answered with a spectacular jump kick goal in which she kicked the ball back over her head and into the goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. With Levy-Armesto making multiple stops to keep Gulliver in it, the Raiders found their offense and scored twice in a roughly 10-minute span with goals from junior Miranda De Armas and sophomore Nora Henein to put Gulliver ahead for good. Levy-Armesto made two more big stops to preserve the lead over the final 10-plus minutes. 'The first goal always sets the mood. It's based on the reaction of the person that scored. I wanted to make sure everyone around me was in it,' Ehrenreich said. 'And I encouraged everyone to keep going and make them believe we could do it. I just threw my leg back and hoped I could make contact with the ball.' Ehrenreich said she has seen signs the Raiders could put together such resilient performances all season - something that was missing in recent years. On Tuesday, she and her teammates backed up that belief. 'It was really just about motivation,' Ehrenreich said. 'We hadn't come this far in a while and so just being everyone's motivators is such a big thing and we've instilled that into everyone on the team. Every time there was a break we told each other to keep going.' MORE SCORES ▪ Region 4-3A quarterfinal - Cardinal Gibbons 8, Monsignor Pace 0: Mia Conard scored four goals and added two assists to lead the top-seeded Chiefs (11-5-2) to the mercy rule victory in a game that ended after halftime. Caroline Findley scored three goals and Brooke Catronio had three assists. Abby Gillette had a goal and an assist. Gibbons will host Coral Springs Charter on Friday at 6 p.m. ▪ Region 4-3A quarterfinal: Coral Springs Charter 4, La Salle 1 ▪ Region 3-3A quarterfinal - North Broward Prep 7, Cape Coral Oasis 0: Jayda Palumbo scored three goals and had one assist to lead the Eagles (12-3-2), who will travel to Fort Myers next on Friday night to face Bishop Verot. Kaiden O'Neill had one goal and three assists while Isabella Cancelier had one goal and one assist. Ella Munoz and Kaylee Forcione each had one goal and Lila Brown had two assists. Zoie Brown posted her 10th shutout and had two saves. ▪ Region 4-2A quarterfinal - Palmer Trinity 2, True North 1: Brooklyn Schiffrin scored both goals for the Falcons (11-4-3) to help oust the Titans (8-6), who had advanced to state in consecutive seasons. Palmer will next travel to Boca Raton on Friday to face St. John Paul II. ▪ Region 4-2A quarterfinal - Ransom Everglades 1, Carrollton 1 (Ransom wins 5-3 PK): The Raiders (12-4-3) will host Boca Raton St. Andrews on Friday night in the regional semis. ▪ Region 4-2A quarterfinals: Boca Raton St. John Paul II 2, Miami Country Day 0; Boca Raton St. Andrews 1, Westminster Christian 0. ▪ Region 4-1A quarterfinal - Sheridan Hills Christian 5, Greater Miami Academy 2: Junior Eva Hendriks scored all five goals for the Sharks (11-4). Junior Gina Cepeda had two assists and senior Valentina Escobar had one assist. Sheridan Hills Christian will face South Florida HEAT on Friday afternoon at Tequesta Trace Park. ▪ Region 4-1A quarterfinal: South Florida HEAT 8, Highlands Christian 0. ▪ Region 4-1A quarterfinal - Westwood Christian 3, Archimedean 2: The Warriors (11-1-2) will host West Palm Beach Berean Christian on Friday afternoon in the regional semifinals.
