Sony Pictures acquires Lebanese film “Capernaum” ahead of Cannes

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North and Latin American rights to Lebanese film “Capernaum,” one of the top contenders for the Palme d’Or award, Variety reports.

Capernaum tells the story of a young boy who sues his parents for “giving me life in a world of pain and suffering.”

The movie comes from Lebanese director Nadine Labaki who previously directed “Where Do We Go Now?”

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“Where Do We Go Now?” was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, and won a special mention at Cannes in 2011.

Sony Pictures said the 44-year-old director is “one of the world’s great filmmakers.”

“(Capernaum) is an emotionally profound experience about the world we live in and promises to be a triumph in Cannes,” Sony Pictures added. “Nadine Labaki’s moment as writer-director is here and now.”

WATCH: Lebanese-Brazilian singer back with amazing mashup!

Lebanese-Brazilian singer Luciana Zogbi is back with an amazing mashup of some of the hottest songs of the year.

The mashup includes lyrics from Havana, Mi Gna, Mi Gente, New Rules, Strip That Down and IDGAF.

“I took the most requested songs and slammed them together into this crazy multicultural mashup,” Zogbi posted on Facebook.

The independent multilingual singer shot to fame in 2014 after her cover of John Legend’s “All of Me” went viral, garnering more than 76 million views worldwide.

Her YouTube channel has more than 1.5 million subscribers, and nearly 180 million total views.

WATCH: Lebanese-Brazilian singer Luciana Zogbi’s amazing mashup:

Superstar Nancy Ajram wows in stunning new outfits

Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram is showing off several new outfits on her Instagram page, and setting her own fashion trends for 2018.

The world-renowned singer posted a stunning photo of her Dior outfit at a recent Dubai performance. She wore a sexy black top with a sheer brown skirt.

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A brown skirt on stage, or a brown skirt on the move — no problem!

She rocked a gorgeous casual blouse with a flowing brown skirt during a February photo shoot.

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In April, she wore a beautiful gold and silver gala gown by Lebanese designer Georges Hobeika.

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And it’s not Nancy’s first rodeo.

She rocked a red hot Georges Hobeika dress back in February as well.

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See more of Nancy Ajram on her Instagram page.

VIDEO: Lebanese voters enjoy hookah outside of Michigan polling station

Some Lebanese American voters are turning election day into a ‘Sunday Fun-day!’

The What’s Up digital media network spotted a group of guys smoking hookah outside a polling station Sunday in Dearborn.

WATCH HERE:

Thousands of Lebanese Americans are expected to cast their ballots in the Lebanese parliamentary elections. This is the first time Lebanese citizens are allowed to vote abroad.

About 10,000 Lebanese citizens are registered to vote in the United States, officials said.

READ MORE: Lebanese Americans vote in parliamentary elections.

To see more videos from the What’s Up team, visit their Facebook page.

Audiences are not digging ‘Beirut’ movie, reviews show

Audiences don’t seem to be digging the new movie ‘Beirut,’ which hit the silver screen on April 11. The film has a rotten 56% score on movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.

Several movie buffs have complained the plot follows a stereotypical action sequence. One user wrote, “Pretty generic [movie], but at least Jon Hamm is easy on the eyes.”

The film follows the story of a former American diplomat who returns to service in Beirut in order to save a colleague from a group responsible for the death of his family.

John Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris and Shea Whigham all star in the espionage thriller film.

Social media users have complained the film dehumanizes Arabs and Muslims and ignores the political complexities of the Lebanese Civil War.

In a New York Times article, culture reporter Sopan Deb called the film offensive and dehumanizing. He says there are no Lebanese actors featured in the film, and cites the hashtag #BoycottBeirutMovie as evidence of the trailer’s reception in Lebanon.

Critics also say the film wasn’t shot in Lebanon, and has no Lebanese actors, directors, or cast members.

Daniel Schindel of The Film Stage writes, “Beirut has zero character as a setting, reduced to a generic backdrop of rubble and sand.”

The movie was released on April 11, 2018 and is currently playing in theaters in the U.S. and around the world.

VIDEO: Comedian compares Lebanese and Japanese driving

A Lebanese-Canadian comedian compared Lebanese and Japanese driving styles in a hilarious new YouTube video.

The video titled “How Lebanese People Drive Vs. How Japanese People Drive” is the newest in his series called “FRAJALICAN,” which are skits of comedian Mike Hachem and his French-Japanese friend.

Hachem creates and uploads comedic videos about Lebanese culture on his YouTube channel.

Watch his newest skit here:

To watch more of Mark Hachem’s videos, check out his Facebook page by clicking here.

Lebanese beauty blogger Maya Ahmad lives it up at Coachella

Lebanese Instagram star and beauty blogger Maya Ahmad partied hard at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California.

The YouTube and Instagram star, who has more than half a million subscribers and 1.1 million followers, posted a photo on her Instagram page dressed in denim shorts and a cropped neck top.

The Coachella festival is one of the largest, most profitable music festivals in the world. It features artists from many genres of music, including rock, indie, hip hop and electronic dance movement.

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A post shared by M A Y A (@themayaahmad) on Apr 15, 2018 at 2:36pm PDT

Maya’s Instagram post said, “#Coachella Day 2. Still not over Beyonce.” Beyonce was one of many well-known performers at the festival.

To see more of Maya’s page, click here.

WATCH: Elissa music video hits 3 million views in first week

Lebanese superstar Elissa is breaking new records after the music video of her new song “Aaks Elli Shayfenha” hit more than 3 million views in its first week.

The song was posted on July 19 by Rotana Records, the Arab World’s largest record label, which has 4.5 million subscribers.

WATCH: “AAKS ELLI SHAYFENHA”

The hit music video is directed by Lebanese director Angy Jammal, who collaborated with Elissa for the fourth time after music videos for “Ya Merayti,” “Hob Kol Hayaty,” and “Saharna Ya Leil,” according to a press release.

“Aaks Elli Shayfenha” is composed by Amir Teima and with lyrics by Walid Saad. The song comes from Elissa’s album, “Saharna Ya Leil.”

Elissa, whose real name is Elissar Zakaria Khoury, is a popular Lebanese recording artist, and the first Lebanese singer to receive the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist in 2006.

She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.

WATCH: Egyptian friends add oriental beats to ‘Despacito’

Road trips are probably a blast with Egyptian duo Adel Nabil and Peter Gabra.

The friends posted a Facebook video of themselves rocking out to the Puerto Rican single “Despacito,” and the Internet is loving it!

The video has nearly 2 million views and counting.

Nabil posted the video with caption, “Because we have a different Flavor! ? #Despacito.”

“Despacito,” which means slowly in Spanish, has already broke records as the most streamed track of all time with more than 4.6 billion streams, according to Universal Music Latin Entertainment.

WATCH: Egyptian friends add oriental beats to ‘Despacito’

George and Amal Clooney welcome birth of twins

George and Amal Clooney have welcomed the birth of twins Ella and Alexander Clooney.

The pair was born Tuesday morning at a hospital in London, according to Clooney spokesperson Stan Rosenfield. Both are “happy, healthy and doing fine,” he said.

Clooney, 56, and British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin, 39, married in 2014. Ella and Alexander are the first children for both.george-amal-clooney-twins-2

“I didn’t know that we’d have kids,” Clooney told reporters after announcing Amal’s pregnancy. “I was very happy that we were going to get married and then (children) seemed like the next step.”

The twins are British citizens by birth, but can apply for dual citizenship, according to immigration expert Atousa Saei. However, the children cannot legally become Lebanese citizens.

A nearly century-old Lebanese law restricts Lebanese women from passing citizenship to their spouse or children. According to Reuters, more than 77,000 Lebanese find themselves in a similar situation.

Photos of the babies have not yet been released. A publicist said no other details were immediately available as of Tuesday afternoon.

A publicist joked, “George is sedated and should recover in a few days.”

WATCH: George Clooney is a Father of Twins!

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