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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2012

Pattinson fails to deliver in Cronenberg's 'Cosmopolis'

"Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson fails to deliver in David Cronenberg's sleekly beautiful, but dramatically lifeless competition entry "Cosmopolis". Elsewhere on the Croisette, three furry, four-legged performers picked up prizes.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2012

Efron and Kidman light up torrid ‘Paperboy’

It was greeted by boos and jeers. But Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman bring heat and humor to Lee Daniels' Southern thriller "The Paperboy", a pulpy, outrageously entertaining treat with a bit more on its mind than people may think.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2012

'Holy Motors' steals 'On the Road' thunder

Speculation about what film could take home the top Palme d'Or prize raged at Cannes Wednesday, with Leos Carax's crazy, inspired "Holy Motors" seen as a frontrunner. Walter Salles's lovely "On the Road" drew mostly shrugs and scoffs.

Culture

Art collection of Bardot's late husband fetches $56 million

The art collection of late German playboy Gunter Sachs went under the hammer for more than $56 million at a London auction Tuesday. The works included an Andy Warhol portrait of Sach's former wife Brigitte Bardot.

OBITUARY

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb dies at 62 after cancer battle

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, who along with his brothers Maurice and Barry created disco hits such as “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever”, died on Sunday evening after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.

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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2012

‘Superficial’ Cannes snubs feminist protest as 'India’s Brigitte Bardot' shines

OBITUARY

Grammy-winning disco icon Donna Summer dies at 63

US disco legend Donna Summer died Thursday in Florida from cancer at age 63, her family said in a statement. The Grammy-winning artist had a string of hits in the 1970s and '80s, including "I Feel Love" and "She Works Hard for the Money".

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CULTURE

Cannes International Film Festival 2012 - 'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet'
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CULTURE

Daniel Buren turns Paris' Grand Palais into a monumental kaleidoscope

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OBITUARY

Mexican author Carlos Fuentes dies at 83

Author Carlos Fuentes died on Tuesday at a Mexico City hospital at the age of 83, the National Council for Culture and the Arts has confirmed. Mexico’s best-known novelist was celebrated for his writings on the failures of the Mexican revolution.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2012

Feminists cry foul as Cannes prepares for take-off

With the world’s most prestigious and glamorous cinema event about to get underway, France’s feminists are angry and festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux is on the defensive.

CULTURE

Buren fills Paris's Grand Palais with colour

CONTEMPORARY ART

Rothko painting sets auction record at $87 million

The Mark Rothko abstract painting “Orange, Red, Yellow” has set a new auction record for contemporary art, fetching nearly $87 million in a sale that showed the strength of the art market despite global economic gloom.

ARCHEOLOGY

Study shows French prehistoric paintings ‘oldest and most elaborate’

The prehistoric rock paintings of bears and horses in France’s Chauvet cave are more than 30,000 years old, new radiocarbon dating evidence has shown, confirming that the well-preserved cave art is the most ancient and most elaborate of its kind.

OBITUARY

Maurice Sendak, beloved children's author, dies at 83

TUNISIA

Tunisian TV chief fined for airing 'Persepolis'

A Tunisian court on Thursday fined the owner of the privately-owned Nessma TV station for undermining "proper morals" by screening "Persepolis", a Franco-Iranian film that depicts Allah, an act considered blasphemous by many Sunni Muslims.

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ART

Louvre ditches audio guides for Nintendo consoles

Visitors to the Louvre Museum in Paris can now tour the galleries with a Nintendo games console instead of a traditional audio guide in hand. The innovative video devices come complete with a navigation system and a guided “masterpieces” walk.

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Music

French singer Charles Aznavour cancels 3 concerts in New York

Legendary French singer Charles Aznavour has cancelled three concerts in New York, event organisers said Saturday. Earlier this month the singer rescheduled a concert in Canada due to severe throat pain.

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CINEMA

Star-filled line-up sees US 'resurgence' at Cannes

With US films made by non-Americans, a Japanese romance from an Iranian director, a French actress in a South Korean film, and an Australian pop star in a French film, this year's Cannes line-up points to cinema’s increasingly blurred borders.

FRANCE - THEATRE

Revamped 'Nixon in China' opera to open in Paris

Chinese-born director Cheng Shi-Zheng stages a new production of "Nixon in China", an opera by US composer John Adams and inspired by the first visit to Beijing by a US president, at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The opera runs until April 18.

FRANCE 24 REPORTS FROM CANNES