The last time I met Rajasthani-born superstar Irrfan Khan was in Abu Dhabi, and as we spoke, sitting in a busy hallway inside the grandiose Emirates Palace, waiters and chefs from India and Pakistan working for the hotel would approach him constantly, to ask for an autograph and get their picture taken alongside their idol. The actor indulged them every time, with grace and class.
Read MoreVisionary Producer Michel Merkt in Locarno: “I would rather surprise than be expected.”
Visionary, global, modern, iconoclastic, young and cool, Michel Merkt has revolutionized the landscape of independent cinema internationally and changed the way we go to the movies. Whereas before films like ‘Toni Erdmann’ and ‘My Life as a Zucchini’ would have been relegated to the darkened rooms of arthouse movie theaters, they are now titles that trip off global audiences tongues as easily as any blockbuster or Hollywood rom-com. And for the past decade, producing an average of five titles per year, Merkt has guaranteed his place in the firmament of star film producers.
Read MoreJake Gyllenhaal on Today’s America, Personal Comfort and His Parents’ Divorce
As he sat down to talk to a select group about his latest film ‘Okja’ in Cannes, Jake Gyllenhaal crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave the room an intense, yet wary look-over. In that moment I thought, “uh oh” imagining the actor would be as I’d seen him before during a masterclass in Dubai — revealing exactly what he was prepared to disclose and nothing more, nothing less. Which would mean that I’d never get my answers about the man beneath the public persona. And that’s always the most interesting, isn’t it, who someone is after the spotlights are turned off and the crowds have gone home.
Read MoreOlivier Assayas in Locarno: “Festivals are the place where movies are protected”
Apart from Olivier Assayas being one of the most perfectly articulate persons I’ve ever met, indulging each and every question without any sign of haughtiness or “I know better than thou” attitude — which of course is the case because I’m convinced the man knows everything! — personally, I’m a huge fan of his cinema. Assayas’ films are cinematic human mysteries, to be enjoyed on the big screen of course, yet to be re-watched, relished time and time again so that their magic can truly be absorbed. At the moment, I am obsessed with watching ‘Personal Shopper’ starring Kristen Stewart over and over again, each time discovering new images and uncovering new, pardon the pun, personal truths within it.
Read MoreFashion’s Iconoclast: Six Questions for Teppei Fujita of Sulvam
Beloved street style photographer Bill Cunningham once said that “fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” With that saying always in my back pocket, I watched Japanese designer Teppei Fujita’s latest collection for his brand Sulvam expecting to be shaken up by his looks.
What I didn’t expect was that the Nina who sat down for the Sulvam Fall 2017 show would not be the same woman who got up immediately after it. I was changed, exhilarated, inspired and in love.
Read MoreCannes, Popcorn and ‘Lumière!’: A Conversation with Thierry Frémaux in Dubai
For cinema insiders of course Monsieur Frémaux needs no introduction, he is the legendary artistic director of the Festival de Cannes. He is also the director of the Institut Lumière in Lyon, which is where his passion for the inventors of modern cinema, as we know and love it today, comes from. When I use the word passion in his case, I am not throwing it around lightly. His enthusiasm for the films of the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, is infectious and now that he’s curated them into a full-length film collection that is presented in exclusive settings with his live commentary, he has easily conquered quite a few new fans for the French inventors of the movie camera.
Read More"That feeling, to say NO!" -- Three Questions with Penelope Cruz
This coming March, Cruz will receive an honorary prize from France’s Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema during the 43nd Cesar Awards ceremony, the country's equivalent to the Oscars. And she deserves that and more, in my book. So here are three questions with a woman who represents the spirit of "duende" that je-ne-sais-quoi only genuine Spanish women possess.
Read MoreThree Questions with Liev Schreiber
There is something perfectly magnetic about Liev Schreiber. He's tall, strong and handsome, with clear as aquamarines blue eyes. But it goes beyond that. When he sat down in the chair next to mine in Venice, I gasped.
And now I can't wait to watch him... eh hum.... hear him play a dog in Wes Anderson's 'Isle of Dogs'.
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