A Moroccan landscape painted by Winston Churchill and owned by Angelina Jolie sold at auction on Monday for more than $11.5 million, smashing the previous record for a work by Britain’s World War II leader.
“Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque” sold at Christie’s in London for 8,285,000 pounds ($11,590,715). The pre-sale estimate was 1.5 million pounds to 2.5 million pounds, and the previous record price for a Churchill painting was just under 1.8 million pounds.
The image of the 12th-century mosque in Marrakech at sunset, with the Atlas Mountains in the background, is a piece of both political and Hollywood history.
The only painting that Britain’s wartime prime minister completed during the 1939-45 conflict, it was completed after the January 1943 Casablanca Conference, where Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt planned the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The two leaders visited Marrakech after the conference so that Churchill could show Roosevelt the city’s beauty. Churchill gave the painting to Roosevelt as a memento of the trip.
The painting was sold by Roosevelt’s son after the president’s death in 1945, and had several owners before Jolie and partner Brad Pitt bought it in 2011.
The couple separated in 2016 and have spent years enmeshed in divorce proceedings, amid speculation about the division of their extensive art collection.
They were declared divorced in 2019 after their lawyers asked for a bifurcated judgment, meaning that two married people can be declared single while other issues, including finances and child custody, remain.
The painting was sold by the Jolie Family Collection. The buyer wasn't immediately identified.
Prince Harry says the process of separating from royal life has been very difficult for him and his wife, Meghan.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry invoked the memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, who had to find her way alone after she and Prince Charles divorced.
Also read: Harry, Meghan do their last royal job at Commonwealth event
“I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side, because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago,” Harry said, adding, “because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us.”
“But at least we have each other,” Harry said, in a clip from the interview special, which is scheduled to air March 7 on CBS and the following day in Britain. Diana was shown in a photo holding toddler Harry as he made the comments. His mother died in 1997 of injuries suffered in a car crash.
Harry and Meghan sat opposite Winfrey and side-by-side, holding hands during the interview that was conducted in a lush garden setting. The couple lives in Montecito, California, where they are neighbors of Winfrey. Meghan, who recently announced she is pregnant with the couple’s second child, wore an empire-style black dress with embroidery. Harry wore a light gray suit and white dress shirt, minus a tie.
Also read: Prince Harry and Meghan support completion of relief center
As Meghan Markle, the actor starred in the TV legal drama “Suits.” She married Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson at Windsor Castle in May 2018, and their son, Archie, was born a year later.
The brief promotional clip was one of two of that aired Sunday during CBS’ news magazine “60 Minutes.” Winfrey’s questions and comment were predominant in the other clip, including her statement that, “You said some pretty shocking things here,” without an indication of what she was referring to. Meghan was not heard from in the clips.
Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in March 2020, unhappy at media scrutiny and the strictures of their roles. They cited what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess, who is African American.
It was agreed the situation would be reviewed after a year. On Feb. 19, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the couple will not be returning to royal duties and Harry will give up his honorary military titles — a decision that makes formal, and final, the couple’s split from the royal family.
Also read: Prince Harry hopes for calmer future, but not much chance
The pair, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, verified “they will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family. “
A spokesperson for the couple hit back at suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not devoted to duty.
“As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Lady Gaga’s dog walker, who was shot last week during a robbery in Hollywood when two of the singer’s French bulldogs were stolen, described the violence and his recovery “from a very close call with death” in social media posts Monday.
Ryan Fischer’s posts included pictures taken from his hospital bed, where he says “(a) lot of healing still needs to happen” but he looks forward to reuniting with the dogs.
Fischer was shot once as he walked three of Lady Gaga’s dogs on Wednesday night on a street just off the famed Sunset Boulevard. Video captured by the doorbell camera of a nearby home captured Fischer’s screams of “Oh my God! I’ve been shot!” and “Help me!” and “I’m bleeding out from my chest!”
Police are seeking two men in the attack and said Monday they are still investigating.
The two dogs, named Koji and Gustav, were returned unharmed Friday evening when a woman showed up at a Los Angeles police station with them. Detectives do not believe she was involved in the robbery or shooting and did not know if she would receive the $500,000 reward Lady Gaga had offered for the dogs’ return. The singer is currently in Rome to film a movie.
Fischer thanked Lady Gaga for her support during the ordeal, writing “your babies are back and the family is whole ... we did it!” in Instagram posts. A third dog, named Asia, escaped the assailants and lies down next to Fischer “while a car sped away and blood poured from my gun shot (sic) wound,” he wrote.
The doorbell video shows a white sedan pulling up and two men jumping out. They struggled with the dog walker before one pulled a gun and fired a single shot before fleeing with two of the dogs.
Chloé Zhao became the second woman to win best director at the Golden Globes and the first female winner of Asian descent on a night in which her film “Nomadland” was crowned the top drama film.
Zhao, who was among three women nominated in the directing category, was honored for her work on “Nomadland,” about people who take to the road and move from place to place seeking work for usually low wages. It stars two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand and includes nonprofessional actors.
Also read: ‘The Crown,’ ‘Minari,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ win at bicoastal Globes
“I especially want to thank the nomads who shared their stories with us,” Zhao said, accepting the directing honor virtually on Sunday night.
She singled out real-life nomad Bob Wells, who appears in the movie, for help with her remarks.
“This is what he said about compassion,” Zhao said. “Compassion is the breakdown of all the barriers between us. A heart to heart pounding. Your pain is my pain. It’s mingled and shared between us.”
The 38-year-old director who lives in Los Angeles is a leading Oscar contender for “Nomadland,” which is in select theaters and streaming on Hulu.
Also read: Bye, Ricky Gervais: Poehler, Fey to host 2021 Golden Globes
“Now this is why I fell in love with making movies and telling stories because it gives us a chance to laugh and cry together and it gives us a chance to learn from each other and to have more compassion
for each other,” Zhao said in her acceptance remarks. “So thank you everyone who made it possible to do what I love.”
She joins Barbra Streisand, who won in 1984 for “Yentl,” as the only women to win directing honors at the Globes. Until this year, just five women had been nominated in the category.
“Sometimes a first feels like a long time coming. You feel like, it’s about time,” Zhao said in virtual backstage comments. “I’m sure there’s many others before me that deserve the same recognition. If this means more people like me get to live their dreams and do what I do, I’m happy.”
Also read: Golden Globes nominations could belong to Netflix
Regina King ("One Night in Miami...") and Emerald Fennell ("Promising Young Woman") were the other female director nominees.
Zhao also was nominated for best motion picture screenplay and lost to Aaron Sorkin. McDormand received a nod for actress in a motion picture drama, but lost.
Born in China, Zhao made her feature directing debut in 2015 with “Songs My Brother Taught Me.” She broke out in 2017 with “The Rider.” Next up for her is the big-budget Marvel film “Eternals,” set for release this fall.
Bongo, the first and largest video streaming platform in the country, is set to release popular Turkish series 'Sohosro Ek Rojoni'.
It will also be aired on the private television channel 'Nagorik TV'.
Fan-favourite Turkish drama series 'Sultan Suleiman' famed noted Turkish actor 'Halit Ergenç’ who won the hearts of the Bangladeshi audience by playing the title character of the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, has also played a central role in the soon-to-be-released drama series 'Sohosro Ek Rojoni' on Bongo.
Based on the modern version of the ancient collection of Middle Eastern folk tales 'Arabian Nights', 'Sohosro Ek Rojoni' is the story of a widow named 'Sehrazat' and her struggle of life with her only sick child. The characters in this Turkish drama series gained popularities in some Latin American countries that many have named their children Sehrazat and Nur, according to Bongo.
Mushfiqur Rahman, Chief Content Officer of Bongo, said, "Although it is a Turkish drama series, we hope it will win the hearts of Bangladeshi viewers because of the consistency of the story and the fact that we broadcast it in Bangla."
"We are optimistic about 'Sohosro Ek Rojoni' series," said Kamruzzaman Babu, Head of Entertainment Program & Events at Nagorik TV.
“Sohosro Ek Rojoni”, there is a kind of fascination in the name itself. We have already seen many foreign serials on different TV channels in our country, where “Sohosro Ek Rojoni” is a serial in a very different context. Here it reflects how the lower circles see the real life of the upper circles in their lives, how the people of the lower circles surrender to the upper circles in the throes of life," he added.
"We are displaying it with the permission of the government. Thanks to the Bongo authorities, they have brought the series for us. Hopefully, in the future, they will come up with more series for us,” Babu said on the broadcasting partnership.
The fully Bengali-dubbed series will be broadcast from March 1st ion the video streaming platform 'Bongo', scheduled to air 6 episodes every week. Viewers can enjoy this drama series from Bongo Android/iOS app and website (www.bongobd.com). This will be aired on the private television channel 'Nagorik TV' from the same date.