Latest news with #GlasgowFilmFest
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mike Leigh, Riz Ahmed Among Media Figures Calling Out BBC Over Gaza Doc Controversy
The BBC is embroiled in controversy after a documentary on the Israel-Gaza war featured narration from the son of a senior Hamas official. The corporation has removed Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from its streaming service BBC iPlayer while it carries out 'further due diligence.' Following four teenage boys through the conflict in Gaza, pro-Israel protestors are in uproar after discovering one of the 13-year-old subjects, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of Hamas' deputy minister of agriculture. More from The Hollywood Reporter Warner Bros. Discovery Turns $677M DTC Profit for 2024, Streaming Subs Grow to 116.9M Killer Billionaires, Generational Poverty and Michael Haneke: Austrian Cinema Takes Center Stage at the Glasgow Film Fest Sony, 'The Crown' Producer Left Bank Hire BBC Content Chief Charlotte Moore for Dual Role 'The BBC has become a mouthpiece for terror. It cannot call terrorism by its name. The BBC has become a spokesperson for terrorists,' said Gideon Falter, the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), which organized a demonstration outside the BBC headquarters in central London earlier this week. Photos from the event showed protestors holding up placards that read 'spokespeople for terrorists.' Other signs showed Hamas militants with BBC headbands. The CAA submitted a Freedom of Information request to the BBC, demanding to know if payments were made in relation to the doc — to whom and in what amounts. The group said: 'This is an opportunity for the BBC to come clean on whether lisence fee funds have gone to Hamas.' U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she spoke with BBC director-general Tim Davie about the film, ensuring that 'no money paid has fallen into the hands of Hamas.' A statement from the BBC read: 'Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone features important stories we think should be told — those of the experiences of children in Gaza. There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company. The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.' The corporation said it was not informed of the teenager's family connection in advance by the film's production company. However, following its removal from iPlayer, industry figures are now calling on the BBC to reinstate the program. Soccer star Gary Lineker, actors Riz Ahmed, Khalid Abdalla, Miriam Margolyes and director Mike Leigh are among the 800+ signatories of an open letter published by Artists for Palestine U.K. on Wednesday. The media professionals, including 12 BBC staff, sent a letter to Davie, as well as chair of the board Samir Shah, outgoing chief content officer Charlotte Moore, and head of news and current affairs Deborah Turness. 'Beneath this political football are children who are in the most dire circumstances of their young lives,' the letter reads. 'This is what must remain at the heart of this discussion. As programme-makers, we are extremely alarmed by the intervention of partisan political actors on this issue, and what this means for the future of broadcasting in this country.' The letter also dubbed the campaign 'racist' and 'dehumanising.' It called on the BBC to 'reject attempts to have the documentary permanently removed or subjected to undue disavowals.' The BBC's board is expected to discuss the film on Thursday. The BBC did not immediately respond The Hollywood Reporter's request for comment. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 20 Times the Oscars Got It Wrong The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time Dinosaurs, Zombies and More 'Wicked': The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Andrew Tate, Who Faces Rape and Trafficking Charges in Romania, Has Left for the U.S.
Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, have left for the U.S. after a travel ban on them was lifted, an official said Thursday. The brothers are also charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. More from The Hollywood Reporter Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Wells Street Films Signs First-Look Deal With 'Fleabag' Stage Show Producer Film, TV Fund Gets $26M Capital Injection From European Investment Bank Killer Billionaires, Generational Poverty and Michael Haneke: Austrian Cinema Takes Center Stage at the Glasgow Film Fest It is not clear under what conditions the Tates — who are keen supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump and boast millions of online followers — were allowed to leave Romania. An official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said the decision was at the discretion of prosecutors. Romania's anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a 'request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,' but that judicial control measures remained in place. The agency did not say who had made the request. 'These include the requirement to appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned,' the statement read. 'The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.' Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 — who are dual U.S.-British citizens — were arrested near Romania's capital in late 2022 along with two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four last year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but did not set a date. All four deny all of the allegations. The Tates' departure came after Romania's Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a U.S. official under the current Trump administration had expressed interest in the brothers' legal case in Romania at the Munich Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn't amount to pressure. In December a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the Tates and the two Romanian women could not go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors. That decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal was a huge setback for DIICOT, but it did not mean the defendants could walk free. The case has not been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2024: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo and More
