Hollywood
Taiwanese director Liang to release movies at art museums
KOLKATA: Taiwanese director, Tsai Ming Liang, who participated in the 20th Kolkata International Film Festival that kicked off last Monday, declared that his movies going forward will be screened in art museums where it would not compete with commercial and Hollywood movies.
Also, the director talking about the freedom of film makers said that a movie is majorly controlled by financers, distributors and the demands of the viewers, leaving the director with no independence.
“Henceforth I shall release my movies at art museums where they won’t have to compete with commercial and Hollywood movies,” said Liang, talking about his films and cinema in general in front of a heavily packed auditorium.
He nostalgically also shared experiences of his childhood and mentioned how the political situation in Malaysia did not allow him to watch European films. It was only possible once he migrated to Taiwan which became a democratic nation at around the same time.
With such a change in political climate, several international film festivals were arranged which introduced him to directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut.
To him, the final frozen frame of ‘The 400 Blows’ raised more questions than it answered and was a major cinematic moment in his life, he added.
While talking about filmmaking as a practice, he said that the foremost question a filmmaker should ask is, “why am I making films?” When asked about the long duration of his shots, he defended them by saying that they are a representation of his own time. In most films objectification of the subject obliterates time.
However, he wants to remove the object so the viewer is aware of the flow of time.
When speaking about the casting of his films, he mentioned that he always casts an individual and not an actor. He discovers his actors in their moments of solitude. He found Lee Kang Sheng when he was riding his bike, he concluded.
Hollywood
Disney chair confident CEO Josh D’Amaro will ‘rise to the occasion’ in Trump–Kimmel row
Board backs new chief as ABC controversy tests leadership early on
NEW YORK: The Walt Disney Company has placed the responsibility of handling the escalating dispute between Donald Trump and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel squarely on its new chief executive, Josh D’Amaro.
Speaking at a business conference in Oslo, Disney chair James Gorman said it would be up to the CEO and his team to determine the company’s response to the controversy surrounding Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He noted that such challenges are not uncommon for large corporations and require careful handling at the leadership level.
The row intensified after both Donald Trump and Melania Trump publicly called for Kimmel’s dismissal following remarks made on his show. The comments, which referenced the First Lady, sparked backlash in the days leading up to a security incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Kimmel addressed the issue on-air, clarifying that his joke was intended as a reference to the couple’s age difference and not an incitement to violence. He also expressed sympathy for those affected by the incident and reiterated his stance against violent rhetoric.
Despite mounting pressure, Gorman refrained from offering specific guidance on the future of the show or the host. Instead, he voiced confidence in D’Amaro’s leadership, describing him as “world class” and capable of navigating the situation effectively.
The episode presents an early and high-profile test for D’Amaro, who stepped into the top role just last month. How Disney balances editorial independence, public sentiment and political pressure will likely shape not just the outcome of this controversy, but also the tone of its leadership in the months ahead.
