Latest news with #MichaelaCabrera
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iran's Roustaee concerned about return home despite cautious Cannes film
By Michaela Cabrera and Miranda Murray CANNES, France (Reuters) -Iranian filmmaker Saeed Roustaee said on Friday that he was careful in how he shot his Cannes Film Festival entry "Woman and Child", which never shows women without the mandatory hijab, but was still unsure how he would be received when he returned home. "Last time, they took my passport," said the 35-year-old about his last appearance at the festival in southern France, for competition title "Leila's Brothers" in 2022. "This time, I hope they don't. I just want to go home." Roustaee had also been handed a six-month suspended sentence over that film for showcasing it without Tehran's authorisation. The director said that facing a sentence places a heavy burden not only on the person, but all their friends and family. "Maybe you can handle it yourself, but when you see that your elderly parents can't, it hurts more," he told journalists. His new film, "Woman and Child," stars Parinaz Izadyar as single mother Mahnaz, whose decision to marry her boyfriend Hamid kicks off a series of events culminating in tragedy. Roustaee obtained a permit for the new film, because without it, there was no way he was going to be able to shoot, he said. "I don't know to what extent I'm self-censoring, but ultimately, I live in Iran," the director said. "I'm making films in Iran, and I very much want people to see my films on the big screen. So probably, I am observing certain boundaries so that my films can make it to the screen." "Woman and Child," which premiered on Thursday, is one of two Iranian films competing for the Palme d'Or top prize this year, the other being "It Was Just An Accident" by Jafar Panahi. Panahi, who does not apply for government approval, also plans to return to Iran to begin work on his new film even though he only recently was allowed to travel after 15 years. In total, 22 films are competing for the award this year.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Paris residents to vote on making 500 more streets pedestrian
By Michaela Cabrera and Clotaire Achi PARIS (Reuters) - Parisians vote in a referendum on Sunday to decide whether an extra 500 of the city's streets should be pedestrianised and greened, in a new push by the French capital's left-leaning town hall to curb car usage and improve air quality. This is the third such referendum in Paris in as many years, following a 2023 vote that approved a ban on e-scooters, and a decision last year to triple parking charges for large SUVs. "For the past 25 years we've gradually been reclaiming public space for pedestrian traffic, for gentle traffic, and with 'garden streets', to create lungs within neighbourhoods, the places where we live," Deputy Mayor Patrick Bloche told Reuters ahead of Sunday's vote. Paris town hall data shows car traffic in the city has more than halved since the Socialists assumed power at the turn of the century. Mayor Anne-Hidalgo, in office since 2014, has overseen significant transformation in the city's streets. Since 2020, 84 km (52 miles) of cycle lanes have been created and bicycle usage jumped 71% between the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns and 2023, the data shows. If approved, Sunday's referendum will eliminate 10,000 extra parking spots in Paris, adding to the 10,000 removed since 2020. The capital's two million residents will be consulted on which streets will become pedestrian areas. PARIS BOTTOM OF LIST OF EUROPE'S GREENEST CAPITALS Despite recent changes, Paris lags other European capitals in terms of green infrastructure - which include private gardens, parks, tree-lined streets, water and wetlands - making up only 26% of the city area versus a European capitals average of 41%, according to the European Environment Agency. Critics of the changes say the town hall's measures make it increasingly challenging for the 10 million people living in the outer suburbs, where the public transport network is less dense, to commute to work and shop in the city centre. "It's important to know that the city of Paris isn't a museum. It's still a city where people work, where workers are forced to get around, where people from the greater Paris region are forced to come, where there are stores," said Philippe Noziere, head of the automobile owners' association 40M. Car ownership illustrates the divide between central Paris and the suburbs: only one out of three households own a car in the former versus two out of three in the latter. Excluding Paris and its region, car ownership in France is 85%. If Parisians vote in favour of the proposal, the 500 streets to be vegetated will bring the total of these "green lungs" to nearly 700, just over one-tenth of the capital's streets.
