Hollywood
‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ cast announced
MUMBAI: Actors John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Mr. Selfridge), Adam Driver (Girls), Golden Globe Award nominee Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), BAFTA Award nominee Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings films, The Hobbit films), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 & Part 2), and Academy Award nominee Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) will join the original stars of the saga, Golden Globe Award winner Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones films), Carrie Fisher (Family Guy), Mark Hamill (Uncle Grandpa), Anthony Daniels (Prime Suspect), Peter Mayhew (Breaking In, Glee), and Kenny Baker (Amadeus, Casualty) in the new film.
Director J.J. Abrams said in a statement, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
It has also been confirmed that Star Wars: Episode VII is set about 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, and will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces.
Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek reboot films) from a screenplay by Academy Award nominee Lawrence Kasdan (Darling Companion) and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy (The Adventures of Tintin), J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk (Lost, Fringe) are producing and Academy Award winner John Williams (Jaws, Schindler’s List) returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on 18 December, 2015.
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Hollywood
Who is Geeta Gandbhir? The director behind two separate Oscar-nominated films in one historic year
The Emmy-winning filmmaker makes history with dual documentary nominations at this year’s Oscars.
LOS ANGELES: If Hollywood loves a breakout moment, this year it belongs to Geeta Gandbhir. Long respected within documentary circles, Gandbhir has suddenly become a mainstream name after scoring two Oscar nominations in the same season, one for a feature and one for a short. It is a rare feat. It is historic. And it has prompted one big question: who exactly is the filmmaker behind this double triumph?
Before stepping into the director’s chair, Gandbhir built her reputation as a razor-sharp editor. That technical grounding shaped her storytelling style, which is precise, unsentimental and emotionally direct. Her early career included working alongside Spike Lee, an apprenticeship that sharpened both her political lens and cinematic instincts.
Over the years, she accumulated multiple Emmy Awards and a Peabody, quietly becoming one of the most respected nonfiction voices in American television.
Her feature-length nominee, The Perfect Neighbor, released on Netflix, investigates the fatal shooting of Ajike Owens through stark police body-cam footage. The film strips away dramatic embellishment and instead relies on unfiltered visual evidence to confront viewers with uncomfortable truths.
At the same time, her short film The Devil Is Busy, streaming on HBO Max, offers an intimate, ground-level look inside an abortion clinic in Atlanta. Co-directed with Christalyn Hampton, it trades scale for immediacy and delivers impact in under an hour.
The contrast between the two projects, one investigative and expansive, the other intimate and observational, highlights Gandbhir’s range. Yet both share a common thread, which is a focus on lived reality rather than spectacle.
Documentary filmmaking is often seen as awards adjacent and respected but rarely spotlighted. Gandbhir’s dual nomination changes that narrative. It positions her not just as a contender, but as a defining nonfiction voice of her generation.
Whether she takes home one statuette or two, the achievement itself has already reshaped the Oscar conversation and cemented her place in film history.
