Latest news with #FrancescaHalliwell
Mint
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Jodie Foster, in Cannes for new French film, prefers life outside US
By Francesca Halliwell and Miranda Murray CANNES, France (Reuters) -Jodie Foster prefers to be outside the United States right now, the Oscar-winning actor told Reuters at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, citing better conditions in Europe's film industry as well as more freedom now that her children have grown up. Foster was in southern France for the premiere of "A Private Life," a psychological thriller in which Foster assumes the role of a psychiatrist who tasks herself with investigating the death of her patient, played by Virginie Efira. The U.S.-born actor, who won two Oscars for "The Accused" in 1989 and "The Silence of the Lambs" in 1992, had to speak in French only for the Cannes film that is screening out of competition. Foster, 62, began her career filming commercials at the age of 3 and has received numerous awards throughout her career, including an honorary Palme d'Or award from Cannes in 2021. "I'm really enjoying working outside the United States," she said, recalling how she is not as tied down to the U.S. now as she was when her children were little and she had to stay close to home. Foster, who first came to Cannes as a 13-year-old when she starred in "Taxi Driver", said working as a director in France was better than in the U.S. because of more creative freedom. Blending genres, like director Rebecca Zlotowski does in Foster's new film, is very uncommon in the U.S., she said. Studios want a film to be either a thriller or a comedy, they don't want a mixture of the two, she said, whereas France allows the director to have more authority on such decisions. "That's the reason why filmmakers love to come here." In Europe, female directors also have had more opportunities compared with the U.S., said Foster, herself a director. "I'd only worked with one female director until a few years ago. Isn't that kind of amazing? After I've made 60 movies that I've barely ever worked with another woman?" she said. "Europe has always had a female tradition, or at least for quite a while. But in America, somehow that bias really took hold." (Reporting by Francesca Halliwell and Miranda Murray; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
London Eye, pioneering observation wheel, turns 25
By Francesca Halliwell and Will Russell LONDON (Reuters) - Tourists wanting a bird's eye view of Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace have put the London Eye in the ranks of the city's most visited attractions since it was opened 25 years ago on Sunday. The observation wheel, which offers visitors a 30-minute ride in a glass pod, was supposed to stand for five years before being dismantled, but its popularity led to it being made a permanent fixture on the River Thames last year. On a clear day, tourists riding the wheel can spot Windsor Castle, the royal family's 900 year-old home 40 kilometers (24.85 miles) away, while for Britons it has become synonymous with the city's fireworks on New Year's Eve. The wheel was the idea of husband and wife architects David Marks and Julia Barfield to celebrate the millennium. Its shape symbolises the cycle of life. "A circle has no beginning and no end. It is symbolic of the passing of time," Barfield told Reuters, adding that when it opened, it was one of the few options for a view of London from a height. Since it started operating, the city's skyline has been transformed by new skyscrapers that can be viewed from the wheel. All named after their shapes, The Gherkin opened in 2004, the Shard, London's tallest building, followed in 2013 and the Cheesegrater in 2014. About 3.5 million people pay from 29 pounds ($37.17) per ticket to ride the London Eye each year. Its popularity has inspired dozens of copycat wheels in cities around the world, but at 135 metres (442.91 ft) tall, the London Eye remains the world's largest cantilevered observation wheel. The architects' plan was for the attraction to revitalise a part of London's South Bank, and 1% of the attraction's annual revenues are paid to help maintain the public area around. ($1 = 0.7802 pounds)
