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Over the last couple weeks, there has been an enormous amount written—from The New York Times to Le Monde to Haaretz, among other places—about a controversy centered on Nadav Lapid, an Israeli filmmaker living in France. Lapid has made several critically acclaimed films, including Synonyms, Ahed's Knee, and, most recently, Yes, and his work has taken home jury prizes at the Berlinale and Cannes.The recent controversy was focused on the FIDMarseille international film festival. There was a planned retrospective of Palestinian films at the festival this year. Meanwhile, Lapid was invited to head the jury. It was also decided that there would be an event honoring him, and that he would teach a master class. When a dozen filmmakers threatened to pull their films from the festival, Lapid withdrew as head of the jury. When that did not quell the protests, he decided to cancel the event and the master class, as well.The response from many in the film world has largely been to rally around Lapid, with two letters published in Le Monde, one of them garnering over 350 signatures of high-profile figures in the industry. The letters allege that Lapid is being boycotted solely because of his identity. One of them declares, “Nothing justifies the silencing of an artist . . . the cultural boycott is an intellectual dead end that we must collectively overcome.”Meanwhile, Film Workers for Palestine, allied with PACBI, which coordinates the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, published a translation of a statement by Palestine Will Save Cinema, pointing to the fact that Nadav Lapid's latest film, Yes, received support from the Israeli Film Fund, was presented at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival as an Israeli co‑production, and competed for the Ophir Awards (akin to Israel's Academy Awards). “States have always invested in cinema, literature, the arts, and festivals as instruments of influence and legitimacy. Cultural production does not circulate in a political vacuum. It contributes to the representation of nations, the construction of their international image, and the dissemination of their narratives,” they wrote. “This is precisely why cultural boycott exists. Not because artists are responsible for the crimes committed by their governments, nor because certain works should be prohibited, but because cultural institutions, funding systems, and distribution policies play a concrete role in states' strategies of legitimation.” There can be no mistaking the content of Yes, which seeks to depict the depravity of Israeli society during the genocide. But it does open with the icon of Israel's Ministry of Culture, due to the support it took from the Israeli Film Fund, which accounted for 13% of the film's funding.On this episode of On the Nose, Arielle Angel talks to Nadav Lapid about the recent controversy, and the two hash out some of their disagreements about cultural boycott.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“‘Guilty by Virtue of My Identity,'” Nirit Anderman, HaaretzTwo letters in support of Nadav Lapid, published in Le MondeFilm Workers for Palestine translation of Palestine Will Save Cinema statement on FID MarseillleFilm Workers for Palestine Pledge to End Complicity“What the NY Knicks Mania Reveals About Israelis and Collective Blame for Gaza,” Libby Lenkinski, Haaretz“Thank You for Boycotting Me: As an Israeli Filmmaker, Here's Why Global Pressure Amid Gaza Matters,” Avigail Sperber, Haaretz“Paul Simon's Graceland: the acclaim and the outrage,” Robin Denselow, The Guardian“Non,” Catherine Haas, lundimatin“Is the cultural boycott of Israel an effective political tool for the Palestinian cause?” on Radio France“Israeli Grotesque,” Mitchell Abidor, Jewish CurrentsTranscript forthcoming.
From BBC Africa Correspondent, Panorama and Newsnight to music Correspondent for The Guardian, Robin delights with his stories and life journey - and his lovely personality
Forty years after the death of reggae singer Bob Marley, British writer and dub poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, remembers the day Jamaica came to a standstill for the singer’s funeral. Bob Marley was laid to rest on the 21 May 1981, 11 days after dying from skin cancer. The extraordinary day saw the island come together to mourn their most famous son – and to celebrate his life and work.. Among those remembering this extraordinary day – I3s singer Judy Mowatt, reggae musician Michael Ibo Cooper, reporter Robin Denselow and Edward Williams who was a 13-year-old boy living in Kingston at the time.
Chris Bloom was born in Cambridge in 1970 and that's where he grew up and lived until 1990. He then decided to give up the historical splendour of his hometown and his job at Kodak to go and see some of the world. Due to family connections his first port of call was South Africa but as is often the case it became his permanent home. That was an interesting and sometimes very challenging choice for someone who had attended the Artists Against Apartheid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988 to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday and to continue the campaign for his release from prison. With disarming honesty Chris talks about the ups and downs of his journey over the past 30 years and that of his adopted nation. His music choices directly reflect some of the challenges he has faced, and his insights and analysis have changed the way I listen to a number of these songs. This episode becoming available 3 days after South Africa won the Rugby World Cup with a representative multi-racial team and their first black captain, Siya Kolosi, is a remarkable piece of serendipity. It is almost matched by the fact that Siya is a shortening of Siyamthanda which is also the name of Chris's daughter (although she shortens her name to Thanda). I hope you enjoy Chris's story and his song choices as much as I did and, like me, you take inspiration from them. The SPOTIFY PLAYLIST OTHER THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE · OTHER THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Now That’s What I Call Music Compilation Records - Great site at https://www.nowmusic.com/ which has full details of all 104 albums released so far Top of the Pops Iconic BBS show that was the longest weekly music show that ran from 1964 to 2006 . Full details here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_PopsThe Old Grey Whistle Test The alternative BBC music show (and so it shown late night on BBC 2) . It ran from 1971 to 1988 and was massively influential. Worth searching on You Tube for clips or even better getting hold of the DVD’s the BBC latterly released . Full details of the show here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Grey_Whistle_TestWembley 1998 – Artists Against Apartheid – Nelson Mandela’s 70TH Birthday Tribute The concert, according to Robin Denselow, music critic and presenter of the BBC broadcast, writing in 1989, was the "biggest and most spectacular pop-political event of all time, a more political version of Live Aid with the aim of raising consciousness rather than just money."Full details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela_70th_Birthday_TributeNumerous Video are on You Tube and this is my favouritehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5N2UA82nCUMy Best of 2018 Can be found here (ignore the naming it is my Best Of) http://setlustingbruce.libsyn.com/interview-with-henrik-hemdrup#4LF0u7wYEhkJZDAr.03 Best of 2019 coming early in January 2020 CONTACT DETAILS ChrisTwitter - @flickrisTerryEmail -
On the campaign trail in Mexico, and Zimbabwe without Mugabe - what's changed? Kate Adie introduces stories, wit, and analysis from correspondents around the world. Will Grant attends a campaign rally in Mexico to hear presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promise a new investigation into the kidnapping of 43 students from Iguala in 2014. 'They took them away alive, we want them back alive" their families demand. Kim Chakanetsa is in Zimbabwe six months after Robert Mugabe was replaced by his former ally Emmerson Mnangagwa. Does the new President have a plan? Howard Johnson meets Manny Pacquiao - a boxer, basketball coach, singer, actor, entrepreneur, church pastor and politician who some talk of as a possible future leader of the Philippines. Robin Denselow is at a music festival on the West Bank designed to amplify the voices of those that live there and give the Palestinian music scene a boost. And Chris Bockman has the tale of the punk rocker turned bank robber who's returned to France after decades on the run and, apparently, come back from for the dead. Producer: Joe Kent.
Will Grant attends a campaign rally in Mexico to hear presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promise a new investigation into the kidnapping of 43 students from Iguala in 2014: ‘They took them away alive, we want them back alive” their families demand. Kim Chakanetsa is in Zimbabwe six months after Robert Mugabe was replaced by his former ally Emmerson Mnangagwa. Does the new President have a plan? Howard Johnson meets Manny Pacquiao - a boxer, basketball coach, singer, actor, entrepreneur, church pastor and politician who some talk of as a possible future leader of the Philippines. Robin Denselow is at a music festival on the West Bank designed to amplify the voices of those that live there and give the Palestinian music scene a boost. And Chris Bockman has the tale of the punk rocker turned bank robber who's returned to France after decades on the run and, apparently, come back from for the dead.
A diplomatic dance, football playing politicians, mountain music and robotic sex dolls. Kate Adie introduces correspondent’s stories from around the world. In Germany - he almost became a professional footballer now he wants to be Chancellor - Jenny Hill meets a former teammate, and childhood friend, of Martin Schulz. In Sierra Leone Bob Howard meets the ‘friends of the dead’ as young entrepreneurs seek any way they can to escape the country’s staggering levels of unemployment. Micky Bristow reflects on the diplomatic games being played out between China and Taiwan. Special number plates and invitations to Swiss summits may seem insignificant to some, but not when on you’re an island that few nations recognise as an independent country. In Peru, Robin Denselow samples the sounds of mountain music at a reconciliation concert high in the Andes. And in San Marcos, California, Jane Wakefield takes a tour of a rather unusual factory offering the latest in AI equipped, robotic sex dolls.
Bridget Kendall introduces correspondents' stories. Today, Robin Denselow is in one of the most sparsely populated countries on the planet, Namibia, where they are seeking divine intervention in a time of drought. Andrew North uses his sketchbook to weave his way through Soviet memorabilia in Georgia. In Nepal, economic necessity means that families aren't able to look after their older relatives as they once did. Melissa Van der Klugt visits an alien concept in the country - the first old people's home. Rob Stepney is with Austrian archaeologists before they're thrown out, in the ancient Turkish city of Ephesus. And it's the bean-eaters they're focused on. And Tim Mansel is in Leipzig, in eastern Germany, with the football upstarts of RB. But he's careful not to spill the beans over dinner with the old stalwarts of LOK.
In a week of remembrance and recollection, Jannat Jalil explains how the French authorities - who are preparing to remember those killed in last November's Paris attacks - find other deaths on the capital's streets more than fifty years ago far more difficult to commemorate. Adam Easton in Warsaw reflects on how Poles saw their country's recent history in the life and work of one of their leading film directors, Andrzej Wajda, who died this week. Carrie Gracie in Beijing joins one of the Chinese Communist Party's new pilgrimage tours to revolutionary martyr sites from the civil war era of the twentieth century which President Xi Jinping wants party members to attend in order to rekindle ideological fervour. Robin Denselow reports on how Turkey's volatile political situation is having an effect on Islamic cooperation even at Sufi festivals, like the famous one he visited at Konya. And we remember Chris Simpson, a long-standing and distinguished contributor to "From Our Own Correspondent", who died suddenly this week. We hear again a characteristically witty and perceptive dispatch he recorded in the Central African Republic in 2010.
Robin Denselow profiles the musician Youssou N'Dour as he reaches his 50th birthday, and travels to Senegal to interview the singer in his home city of Dakar. Denselow analyses not just his music but the way N'Dour has used it for the benefit of his country and his continent. He had huge success with the duet 7 Seconds with Neneh Cherry in 1994, but he has been making music for nearly 40 years and has collaborated with many international artists. Contributors include Peter Gabriel, Branford Marsalis, DJ Charlie Gillett and Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab. A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
Mignon Nixon, Professor at the Courtauld, are in conversation with artist Jeremy Deller and journalist Robin Denselow, whose Newsnight film of IRA prisoners inspired Hamilton’s The citizen. Audio recording.
Kate Adie introduces Correspondents' stories from around the world. Today Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov wonders why silence is the order of the day with the armed men of Crimea. Peter Day is in industrious South Korea where they are trying to make the place more relaxed. Damien McGuinness visits a mega-brothel in Germany, where prostitution has been legal for over a decade, but he questions if much has really changed. We take a remarkly tourist-free ride down the Nile with Robin Denselow; it's good for him but not so good for Egypt. And Charlotte Ashton discovers why Singapore is at the bottom of the happy pile.
Kate Adie introduces Correspondents' stories from around the world. Today Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov wonders why silence is the order of the day with the armed men of Crimea. Peter Day is in industrious South Korea where they are trying to make the place more relaxed. Damien McGuinness visits a mega-brothel in Germany, where prostitution has been legal for over a decade, but he questions if much has really changed. We take a remarkly tourist-free ride down the Nile with Robin Denselow; it's good for him but not so good for Egypt. And Charlotte Ashton discovers why Singapore is at the bottom of the happy pile.
Correspondents with colour and analysis from around the world: Theopi Skarlatos in Thessaloniki on the authorities' crackdown on the far right; Alex Preston is in what he calls one of Africa's most expensive and charmless capitals, Abuja in Nigeria; distant La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, is a popular destination for well off French tourists -- Robin Denselow's been learning that's causing resentment among some local people; Tessa Dunlop discovers how a photographer's work is teaching residents in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, what happened to their city centre during the days of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And among correspondents there are many tales about daunting dishes -- here, Mark Bosworth in Finland talks of a national favourite: licorice shot through with ammonium chloride. The programme is produced by Tony Grant.
Correspondents with colour and analysis from around the world: Theopi Skarlatos in Thessaloniki on the authorities' crackdown on the far right; Alex Preston is in what he calls one of Africa's most expensive and charmless capitals, Abuja in Nigeria; distant La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, is a popular destination for well off French tourists -- Robin Denselow's been learning that's causing resentment among some local people; Tessa Dunlop discovers how a photographer's work is teaching residents in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, what happened to their city centre during the days of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And among correspondents there are many tales about daunting dishes -- here, Mark Bosworth in Finland talks of a national favourite: licorice shot through with ammonium chloride. The programme is produced by Tony Grant.
'Politics at its most brutal, its most basic, democracy as a demolition derby.' That's Mark Mardell's view as he contemplates months of Republican infighting ahead of next year's US presidential election. The Moscow coup of twenty years ago: Bridget Kendall, who was there during that eventful August back in 1991, says it could so easily have succeeded. The smiles seem to have faded somewhat in newly-independent South Sudan but Robin Denselow, just back from the capital Juba, says they still revere their cattle. David Hargreaves has been attending a spectacular riverside religious festival in central India and Karishma Vaswani's had to call in the Indonesian witch doctor after strange goings-on at her house in Djakarta.
'Politics at its most brutal, its most basic, democracy as a demolition derby.' That's Mark Mardell's view as he contemplates months of Republican infighting ahead of next year's US presidential election. The Moscow coup of twenty years ago: Bridget Kendall, who was there during that eventful August back in 1991, says it could so easily have succeeded. The smiles seem to have faded somewhat in newly-independent South Sudan but Robin Denselow, just back from the capital Juba, says they still revere their cattle. David Hargreaves has been attending a spectacular riverside religious festival in central India and Karishma Vaswani's had to call in the Indonesian witch doctor after strange goings-on at her house in Djakarta.
To mark the 50th birthday of Youssou N'Dour, Robin Denselow travels to Senegal to profile the best known African musician of recent times.
Famed British broadcaster and journalist Robin Denselow discusses Palm World Voice's multi-media release: Africa in an in-depth interview by Gerry Lyseight. Also includes musical clips by great African musicians such as King Sunny Ade, Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora.