Can child stars escape the pressures of the entertainment world?



On Culture Bites this week, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews round up their favourite Halloween films to binge before October 31. From the classically frightening to the unsettling and gory, they share suggestions across several horror genres.

The hosts focus on newer films, including Jordan Peele’s chilling alien mystery Nope and the grotesque body horror The Substance starring Demi Moore, as well as classics like The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ensuring there’s something for everyone, they also discuss newer sequels and remakes of family-friendly spooky classics, such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Roald Dahl’s The Witches.

The ecology-focused Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival takes place this week at NYUAD’s Arts Centre under the theme 'All Living Beings'. Enas and Farah highlight some of the most compelling features of the event, including two local short films developed by the UAE platform Climate Tribe. They discuss the festival’s mission to foster a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of our worldly creatures.

After the tragic early death of former One Direction star Liam Payne at the age of 31, fans around the world showed an overwhelming outpouring of emotion as they grieved. The singer was 14 when he was thrust into the limelight, eventually spending more than half his life in the public eye. As his struggles with addiction and untimely death raise questions about the welfare of child stars, the hosts discuss the pressures of growing up within the entertainment industry.

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series

Angelo Mathews (c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera, Thisara Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera, Shehan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga

Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Updated: October 26, 2024, 5:24 AM

The Arts Edit

A guide to arts and culture, from a Middle Eastern perspective

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