Outtakes: This Week in Film News

It seems little could stop the force that is Angelina Jolie. The Oscar-winning half of Hollywood power couple Brangelina and Special Envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has, in recent times, become better known for her humanitarian work and collaborative efforts with former British Foreign Secretary William Hague in leading the global initiative against sexual violence in areas of conflict than for her acting. An alliance between the two began when Jolie’s 2011 film In the Land of Blood and Honey, depicting the horrors of rape in Bosnian war camps, caught Hague’s attention. Despite this week’s reshuffle of the British government by Prime Minister David Cameron, their work is set to continue. Jolie released a statement expressing her continued commitment to the cause and her delight at Hague’s new role, which will see renewed efforts in ending crimes of a sexual nature in war zones.

 
 

intore

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This week the 10th Rwanda Film Festival take place, this year looking at historical and contemporary issues of the diaspora within Africa and Rwanda. As this year marks twenty years since the genocide against the Tutsis, a reflection on the relationship between Rwanda’s past and present is the central theme of the films being shown, such as Eric Kabera’a documentary Intore that tells the story of the 1994 genocide through Rwandan music and dance.

 
 

Actor turned director Ron Howard of Apollo 13 (and the less successful The Da Vinci Code) is set to direct and produce an authorised documentary on The Beatles for release in 2015. The film, yet to be named, will follow The Beatles from 1960-1966 during the band’s touring years, when they were at the height of their fame. A long-term fan himself, Howard sees the documentary as a “narrative of an odyssey”, looking at the individual members “as musical geniuses, as societal leaders and their effect on global culture”. With the promise of previously unreleased footage of live performances as well as interviews from surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Howard will no doubt stir up another wave of Beatlemania with his latest installment on the 20th century’s most beloved band.

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