Guardian critics Charlotte Northedge, Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Simran Hans look ahead to the best of the year in culture
It may be cold and grey in Britain right now but for the Guardian’s culture critics there is plenty to be excited about in the new year, even if you are staying inside for now. Charlotte Northedge (books), Ben Beaumont-Thomas (music) and Simran Hans (film) join Nosheen Iqbal to look ahead to some of the year’s biggest and most anticipated releases.
There are new books from Monica Ali, Douglas Stuart and Hanya Yanagihara. And in 2022 there will be a continued surge in demand for ‘cosy crime’ novels driven by the wildly successful previous releases by Richard Osman, who returns in autumn with his third book.
It may be cold and grey in Britain right now but for the Guardian’s culture critics there is plenty to be excited about in the new year, even if you are staying inside for now. Charlotte Northedge (books), Ben Beaumont-Thomas (music) and Simran Hans (film) join Nosheen Iqbal to look ahead to some of the year’s biggest and most anticipated releases.
There are new books from Monica Ali, Douglas Stuart and Hanya Yanagihara. And in 2022 there will be a continued surge in demand for ‘cosy crime’ novels driven by the wildly successful previous releases by Richard Osman, who returns in autumn with his third book.
- 1/7/2022
- by Presented by Nosheen Iqbal with Charlotte Northedge, Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Simran Hans; produced by Sami Kent and Rudi Zygadlo; executive producers Phil Maynard and Mythili Rao
- The Guardian - Film News
An adaptation of the forthcoming novel by “Brick Lane” author Monica Ali is in the works at the BBC, Variety can reveal.
Sources indicate that All3Media-owned production company New Pictures is in early development on “Love Marriage” with the corporation. The book is set to be published in February by Virago Press in the U.K. and Scribner in the U.S. Ali will be adapting the book for TV herself.
Ali’s debut Man Booker Prize-nominated 2003 novel “Brick Lane,” which is named after the London neighborhood at the heart of the city’s Bangladeshi community, was made into a 2007 film (pictured) directed by Sarah Gavron and produced by Film4 and Ruby Pictures. The movie, written by Abi Morgan and Laura Jones, premiered at Telluride.
“Love Marriage” is centred on young doctor Yasmin Ghorami, who is engaged to fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as their wedding day draws closer...
Sources indicate that All3Media-owned production company New Pictures is in early development on “Love Marriage” with the corporation. The book is set to be published in February by Virago Press in the U.K. and Scribner in the U.S. Ali will be adapting the book for TV herself.
Ali’s debut Man Booker Prize-nominated 2003 novel “Brick Lane,” which is named after the London neighborhood at the heart of the city’s Bangladeshi community, was made into a 2007 film (pictured) directed by Sarah Gavron and produced by Film4 and Ruby Pictures. The movie, written by Abi Morgan and Laura Jones, premiered at Telluride.
“Love Marriage” is centred on young doctor Yasmin Ghorami, who is engaged to fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as their wedding day draws closer...
- 11/16/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
In the face of numerous challenges, the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival delivered a hybrid event in London, with the sister Birmingham Indian Film Festival coming back to cinemas and the launch of the Manchester Indian Film Festival, which saw an all female programme.
Supported by the British Film Institute (BFI) using funds from the National Lottery, and the London title sponsor the Bagri Foundation, the festival successfully took place in some of the capital’s top cinemas including BFI Southbank, Barbican and Ciné Lumière, attracting a healthy number of audiences, in spite of strict social distancing controls, which also worked extremely well in cinemas like Mac in Birmingham and Everyman in Manchester.
Executive & Programming Director Cary Rajinder Sawhney said: “It’s a testament to a strong team that we have been able to pull off a dynamic festival online and back in cinemas against considerable challenges and we...
Supported by the British Film Institute (BFI) using funds from the National Lottery, and the London title sponsor the Bagri Foundation, the festival successfully took place in some of the capital’s top cinemas including BFI Southbank, Barbican and Ciné Lumière, attracting a healthy number of audiences, in spite of strict social distancing controls, which also worked extremely well in cinemas like Mac in Birmingham and Everyman in Manchester.
Executive & Programming Director Cary Rajinder Sawhney said: “It’s a testament to a strong team that we have been able to pull off a dynamic festival online and back in cinemas against considerable challenges and we...
- 7/13/2021
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Exclusive: New Pictures, the All3Media-backed producer behind Catherine The Great and Des, is to adapt Booker Prize-shortlisted author Monica Ali’s upcoming novel, Love Marriage.
New Pictures will work with Ali to develop a television series based on the book, which tells the story of 26-year-old medic Yasmin Ghorami whose life unravels when her family is brought into contact with her fiancée’s firebrand feminist mother.
While Yasmin has to dismantle her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she’s also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a “love marriage” actually means.
Published in March 2022 by Virago, the novel is an exploration of the psychology of relationships, bringing together flawed characters stitched together by largely good intentions into a rich tapestry, frayed by misunderstandings and secrets. What starts as a striking social comedy develops into a story of two cultures,...
New Pictures will work with Ali to develop a television series based on the book, which tells the story of 26-year-old medic Yasmin Ghorami whose life unravels when her family is brought into contact with her fiancée’s firebrand feminist mother.
While Yasmin has to dismantle her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she’s also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a “love marriage” actually means.
Published in March 2022 by Virago, the novel is an exploration of the psychology of relationships, bringing together flawed characters stitched together by largely good intentions into a rich tapestry, frayed by misunderstandings and secrets. What starts as a striking social comedy develops into a story of two cultures,...
- 5/17/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Twelve years on from the hugely acclaimed East Is East comes its sequel, West Is West. Sarfraz Manzoor examines the new directions British-Asian film-makers are taking
Ayub Khan-Din was in his first year at drama school in Salford when his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Khan-Din, the mixed-race son of a Pakistani Muslim father and a white Catholic mother, found that each time he came home, another slab of his mother's memory had disappeared. The past, with all its stories, was slipping into the void, and Khan-Din became determined to try to preserve his parents' history and his own experience of growing up.
Although he was studying to be an actor, Khan-Din started writing. At the time, Asians were rarely glimpsed on screen in the UK unless they were being beaten up by racist skinheads, running corner shops or fleeing arranged marriages. Khan-Din wanted to tell a different story...
Ayub Khan-Din was in his first year at drama school in Salford when his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Khan-Din, the mixed-race son of a Pakistani Muslim father and a white Catholic mother, found that each time he came home, another slab of his mother's memory had disappeared. The past, with all its stories, was slipping into the void, and Khan-Din became determined to try to preserve his parents' history and his own experience of growing up.
Although he was studying to be an actor, Khan-Din started writing. At the time, Asians were rarely glimpsed on screen in the UK unless they were being beaten up by racist skinheads, running corner shops or fleeing arranged marriages. Khan-Din wanted to tell a different story...
- 2/18/2011
- by Sarfraz Manzoor
- The Guardian - Film News
Will Wills marry in uniform? Photograph by Tim Graham/Getty Images. The royal wedding of Prince William and the future Princess Catherine is just a few months away. From the daily barrage of tabloid folly, Vf.com’s Royal Watcher in London plucks the best for your wedding crib notes. • Shouts of “pick me, pick me” can be heard for miles ever since the Lifetime network, with its fascinating oeuvre that includes Wife Swap and Army Wives, announced it was in the midst of creating an original made-for-tv movie highlighting the couple’s (eight-year) journey from courtship to nuptials. Prince William and Charles, the Prince of Wales, have both been cast, but so far no Kate. I’m patiently awaiting my call. • Unlike Eve, it’s not all about Kate. There’s still an empty box to tick when it comes to William’s attire for the big day. Will...
- 1/28/2011
- Vanity Fair
From Oscar favourite The King's Speech to ex-Booker winner Wolf Hall, art that retells events is now the mainstay of films and books. But the concentration on reality stops writers using the imagination for storytelling
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit...
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit...
- 1/24/2011
- by William Skidelsky
- The Guardian - Film News
Joe Wright is following his early successes with literary adaptations and reuniting with Working Title to direct a live action film based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid.
Working Title’s co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner confirmed production of the film which Wright will take on once his duties with Hanna, the Saoirse Ronan starring child assassin movie which also stars Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, are done.
Abi Morgan, who adapted Monica Ali’s Brick Lane for Sarah Gavron in 2007, was inspired to write this adaptation after seeing a production of The Little Mermaid staged by The Little Angel Theatre Company, which used puppets.
Following the trend of swiping from the best of the public domain fairy tale canon, this will be the latest adaptation of the classic, with Ron Clements and John Musker’s ’89 Disney version being perhaps the most familiar.
Working Title’s co-chairmen Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner confirmed production of the film which Wright will take on once his duties with Hanna, the Saoirse Ronan starring child assassin movie which also stars Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, are done.
Abi Morgan, who adapted Monica Ali’s Brick Lane for Sarah Gavron in 2007, was inspired to write this adaptation after seeing a production of The Little Mermaid staged by The Little Angel Theatre Company, which used puppets.
Following the trend of swiping from the best of the public domain fairy tale canon, this will be the latest adaptation of the classic, with Ron Clements and John Musker’s ’89 Disney version being perhaps the most familiar.
- 7/8/2010
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The much-acclaimed film, Brick Lane, based on Monica Ali’s novel, opens in cinemas in India today. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction (2003), Ali was also voted Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists on the basis of the unpublished manuscript. The movie was released globally three years ago. Director Sarah Gavron is thrilled that the people of the country, where she shot for two weeks, will finally get to see it in the theatres, starting with Metro Adlabs. Never mind the delay, Gavron enthuses, “I’m delighted that Brick Lane is, at last, releasing in India. Utv World Movies is ...
- 5/28/2010
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
By Aaron Hillis
British filmmaker Sarah Gavron began her career making documentaries and television projects. Her BBC drama "This Little Life" won two BAFTAs, she's been nominated for one more, and her shorts have racked up jury awards and acclaim on the festival circuit. Gavron's vibrant feature debut "Brick Lane" is an adaptation of Monica Ali's controversial bestselling novel about a Bangladeshi woman named Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee, in a truly anchoring performance) who's forced into an arranged marriage at 17 to the much older Chanu (Satish Kaushik). Moved into the titular block of flats in London's East End, Nazneen tries to make sense of her new life while dutifully raising a family, but her unrealized passions are awakened when she meets and begins an affair with a politically confrontational young Muslim local named Karim (Christopher Simpson). Gavron and I chatted about adapting Ali's book and her surprising experiences within the Bangladeshi community.
British filmmaker Sarah Gavron began her career making documentaries and television projects. Her BBC drama "This Little Life" won two BAFTAs, she's been nominated for one more, and her shorts have racked up jury awards and acclaim on the festival circuit. Gavron's vibrant feature debut "Brick Lane" is an adaptation of Monica Ali's controversial bestselling novel about a Bangladeshi woman named Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee, in a truly anchoring performance) who's forced into an arranged marriage at 17 to the much older Chanu (Satish Kaushik). Moved into the titular block of flats in London's East End, Nazneen tries to make sense of her new life while dutifully raising a family, but her unrealized passions are awakened when she meets and begins an affair with a politically confrontational young Muslim local named Karim (Christopher Simpson). Gavron and I chatted about adapting Ali's book and her surprising experiences within the Bangladeshi community.
- 6/18/2008
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
By Neil Pedley
While Steve Carell and Mike Myers face off at the multiplexes this week, indie theaters fight back with a wide range of quirk, including a meter maid romance, a doc on balloon animals and a horror flick about killer hair extensions.
"Brick Lane"
"Brick Lane" in London's East End might be just a relatively short jaunt down the M1 from Salford, but it's still a million miles (and a decade) away from the careful multi-ethnic empathy of another film that dealt with south Asian refugees in England, the 1970s-set "East is East." This story follows 18-year-old Nazneem (Tannishtha Chatterjee), who steps off a plane from Bangladesh and into an arranged marriage with middle-aged Chanu (Satish Kaushik). Bored and lonely, she's forced to question her beliefs when the charismatic and secular Karim (Christopher Simpson) knocks on her door. Director Sarah Gavron landed herself a Bafta nomination for this...
While Steve Carell and Mike Myers face off at the multiplexes this week, indie theaters fight back with a wide range of quirk, including a meter maid romance, a doc on balloon animals and a horror flick about killer hair extensions.
"Brick Lane"
"Brick Lane" in London's East End might be just a relatively short jaunt down the M1 from Salford, but it's still a million miles (and a decade) away from the careful multi-ethnic empathy of another film that dealt with south Asian refugees in England, the 1970s-set "East is East." This story follows 18-year-old Nazneem (Tannishtha Chatterjee), who steps off a plane from Bangladesh and into an arranged marriage with middle-aged Chanu (Satish Kaushik). Bored and lonely, she's forced to question her beliefs when the charismatic and secular Karim (Christopher Simpson) knocks on her door. Director Sarah Gavron landed herself a Bafta nomination for this...
- 6/16/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
LONDON -- A regal scheduling clash has resulted in the cancellation of a Royal Film Performance of Sarah Gavron's "Brick Lane", which will now unspool at the London Film Festival. It marks only the second time in 61 years that there will be no Royal Gala to benefit the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund.
A spokesman for the prince's headquarters, Clarence House, confirmed that there will be no Royal Film Performance this year.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that an unusually late trip by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles to Uganda and Turkey had left the royal diary crammed full, with no time to schedule a Royal Gala.
Press reports here hinted it may have been over fears of protests from Asian groups. Based on the Monica Ali novel, Gavron's East London-set film centers on an Asian woman who arrives in London for an arranged marriage.
"Lane" will instead unspool during this year's London Film Festival in the event's Film on the Square section as a late addition to the program, organizers said Monday.
A spokesman for the prince's headquarters, Clarence House, confirmed that there will be no Royal Film Performance this year.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that an unusually late trip by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles to Uganda and Turkey had left the royal diary crammed full, with no time to schedule a Royal Gala.
Press reports here hinted it may have been over fears of protests from Asian groups. Based on the Monica Ali novel, Gavron's East London-set film centers on an Asian woman who arrives in London for an arranged marriage.
"Lane" will instead unspool during this year's London Film Festival in the event's Film on the Square section as a late addition to the program, organizers said Monday.
- 9/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MADRID -- Crossover artists from the TV world, complete unknowns and directors with just one feature under their belt are some of the 16 filmmakers competing for the €90,000 ($110,000) Altadis-New Directors Award at the 55th annual San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers said Friday.
The Zabaltegi sidebar, which sports a hefty dose of English-language films this year, weaves together films from first-time directors, pearls from previous festivals and special documentary screenings that will be shown Sept. 20-29.
First- and second-time directors screening in the Official Section will be announced separately, though they also will be entitled to compete for the cash prize. Three Spanish films running in Zabaltegi and competing for the award previously were announced.
Threes Anna's family drama "The Bird Can't Fly", starring Barbara Hershey; Eric Nazarian's "The Blue Hour"; and Sarah Gavron's multiracial love story "Brick Lane", an adaptation of the Monica Ali novel "Seven Seas, Thirteen Rivers", represent three directorial debuts in the competition.
German helmer Felix Randau's "The Calling Game", which follows up on his "Northern Star"; Salvatore Stabile's second feature, the homeless drama "Where God Left His Shoes"; and "10+4," Mania Akbari's sequel to Abbas Kiarostami's "Ten", also will compete.
The Zabaltegi sidebar, which sports a hefty dose of English-language films this year, weaves together films from first-time directors, pearls from previous festivals and special documentary screenings that will be shown Sept. 20-29.
First- and second-time directors screening in the Official Section will be announced separately, though they also will be entitled to compete for the cash prize. Three Spanish films running in Zabaltegi and competing for the award previously were announced.
Threes Anna's family drama "The Bird Can't Fly", starring Barbara Hershey; Eric Nazarian's "The Blue Hour"; and Sarah Gavron's multiracial love story "Brick Lane", an adaptation of the Monica Ali novel "Seven Seas, Thirteen Rivers", represent three directorial debuts in the competition.
German helmer Felix Randau's "The Calling Game", which follows up on his "Northern Star"; Salvatore Stabile's second feature, the homeless drama "Where God Left His Shoes"; and "10+4," Mania Akbari's sequel to Abbas Kiarostami's "Ten", also will compete.
- 8/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American and South American rights to Sarah Gavron's debut feature, Brick Lane, which centers on a young woman brought from Bangladesh to London to enter a loveless arranged marriage.
Based on Monica Ali's acclaimed 2003 novel, the film follows the evolution of plain 18-year-old Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) who lives a sheltered life with an unpleasant middle-aged husband (Satish Kaushik) in 1980s London. She stands in stark contrast to her free-spirited sister (Zafreen) until a Muslim radical (Christopher Simpson) takes her out of her shell and wins her heart.
Lane, produced by Alison Owen and Christopher Collins, is a Ruby Films production and is presented by Film4 Four, Ingenious and the U.K. Film Council's New Cinema Fund. Abi Morgan and Laura Jones adapted the screenplay.
Gavron earned a BAFTA TV Award for best new director for her 2003 BBC feature This Little Life.
The Works International's Joy Wong negotiated the deal with SPC's Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Dylan Leiner.
Based on Monica Ali's acclaimed 2003 novel, the film follows the evolution of plain 18-year-old Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) who lives a sheltered life with an unpleasant middle-aged husband (Satish Kaushik) in 1980s London. She stands in stark contrast to her free-spirited sister (Zafreen) until a Muslim radical (Christopher Simpson) takes her out of her shell and wins her heart.
Lane, produced by Alison Owen and Christopher Collins, is a Ruby Films production and is presented by Film4 Four, Ingenious and the U.K. Film Council's New Cinema Fund. Abi Morgan and Laura Jones adapted the screenplay.
Gavron earned a BAFTA TV Award for best new director for her 2003 BBC feature This Little Life.
The Works International's Joy Wong negotiated the deal with SPC's Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Dylan Leiner.
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.