Harry Potter's Chris Rankin proposes to girlfriend on romantic getaway

Guy Lodge Film Critic The political activism of pop stars is, as a rule, on the restrained side. Those who make their allegiances clear still tend to keep all factions in their fanbases sweet by limiting divisive rhetoric, or filtering their politics through broadly palatable humanitarian causes; those who speak a little more frankly still risk the wrath of the public, the internet and their record labels alike. Yet for Ugandan singer Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu — better known to his adoring fans as Bobi Wine — there’s both everything and nothing to lose by getting a little more directly involved in national politics than most such celebrities would dare. Entering a presidential election against corrupt, long-ruling incumbent Yoweri Museveni is, he knows, both a folly and a necessary symbolic stand — a certain path to honorable defeat that “Bobi Wine: Ghetto President” documents with angry urgency and bitter gallows humor.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Korean and two Indian movies make the cut in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents main competition section. Thet are joined by one each from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Germany. The section has a track record of making significant discoveries among new Asian films and directors.The selected titles are eligible for multiple awards, including the New Currents Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the NETPAC Award, and the KB New Currents Audience Award. The selection comprises: “Ajooma,” directed by Hu Shuming (Singapore-Korea); “Blue Again” from Thailand’s Thapanee Loosuwan; “Hail to Hell,” by Korea’s Lim Oh-jeong; “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Vietnam’s Marcus Vu Manh Cuong; “No End,” directed by Nader Saeivar and flying the flags of Germany, Iran and Turkey; “A Place Called Silence,” by Malaysia’s Sam Quah; “Shivamma,” fromIndia’s Jaishankar Aryar; Japanese director Kubota Nao’s “One Thousand and One Nights”; “A Wild Roomer,” from Korea’s Lee Jeong-hong; and The Winter Within,” directed by Aamir Bashir, and structured as a co-production between India, France and Qatar.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself. Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip (above) from the film, which premieres in Venice on Sept. 5. In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war. Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’s trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fuocoammare” (Fire At Sea, 2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi follows the Pope’s Stations of the Cross. “He sees what he sees, hears what he says,” the press notes point out, and interweaves archival footage of Francis’ travels with images taken by Rosi himself and recent historical events.

Anna Tatarska Dystopian narratives have been popular with filmmakers lately, in times when dark prophecies resonate. But sometimes life pens a much better script than any screenwriter could, as is the case with Giulia Amati’s “Kristos, The Last Child,” which has its world premiere Friday in Venice Days, a sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Leipzig-based Deckert Distribution has taken on world sales duties. Arki is a small island on the east side of the Aegean Sea, populated by approximately 1,000 goats and 30 people. There is no mayor, no pharmacy, no police station and no cinema. But there is a school – and it has only one student, Kristos. If the boy wants to continue his education, he’ll have to leave his home and family. Will he decide to take this risk? Or will he stay with the loved ones to help preserve the family business and long-kept traditions?

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Walls Can Talk,” the latest film by Spain Carlos Saura, director of “Raise Ravens,” “Deprisa, Deprisa” and “Carmen,” has been acquired for intentional sales by Madrid-based Latido.   Produced by María del Puy Alvarado at Malvalanda (“Madre,” “The Mole Agent”) and distributed in Spain by José Maria nd Miguel Morales’ Wanda Vision, “Walls Can Talk” will world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival as an RTVE Gala.  The doc feature sees Saura conduct his own inquest into the origins of art, directing and for once starring in a film. In it, he visits masterpieces of paleolithic art– in Spain’s Altamira and El Castillo caves, for instance – and asks modern (Miquel Barceló) and graffiti artists and urban creators (Suso 33, Zeta, Musa71) about what drives them to paint. 

K.J. Yossman Over 700 U.K. production companies, ranging from tiny indies to industry titans, have signed an open letter addressed to the next U.K. Prime Minister urging the privatization of public broadcaster Channel 4 to be halted in its tracks. Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned in July but remains in office until next Monday (Sept. 5), is set to be replaced by either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, who are both frontrunners for the top job. Under Johnson’s administration, plans for privatizing Channel 4 were already in motion under culture secretary Nadine Dorries, a former actor who is almost unanimously unpopular in the industry.

K.J. Yossman Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are returning to U.K. – and to reality TV. The reigning couple of metal have signed on to a new docuseries titled “Home to Roost,” which will document their journey back to Britain as they re-start their lives in the countryside. “The series will follow the Osbournes as they celebrate one of their most important years yet – with everything from Sharon’s 70th birthday to Kelly’s soon-to-be-born baby, Ozzy’s tour, and of course the big move itself,” promises the logline. The docu-series, which is announced exactly 20 years after their original show “The Osbournes” first launched on MTV, will also follow the couple as they deal with health challenges as well as ageing.

Brittany Aldean is standing by her controversial statements about children and gender despite the recent backlash.

dog-focused interior furnishings that I’ve even found myself browsing whippet-themed wallpapers. While dogs have always had a place in the British home – at the designer Anouska Hempel’s country house they have their own bedroom – they are now an intrinsic part of interior design considerations and architect’s plans. “The way we live with our dogs has changed;  they’re integrated into our lives and our living space,” explains Christine Chau, who has four Italian greyhounds and founded posh dog bed company, Charley Chau (charleychau.com).

comprehend.Within this cosy pub – dark stone mixed with grey-black walls decorated with jolly photos, wine bottles, antlers and currency pinned to the rafters – I’m looking at the menu and thinking fondly of the ugly service station I once stopped at near Châlus in Limousin, south-central France, where I ate a perfect bavette steak and crème caramel.And I’m studying this menu and thinking that it is when a petrol station serves an impeccable bavette that you know that a nation is at culinary ease with itself. It offers simple perfection as a matter of course.

Manchester University are offering incoming students £2,500 to live off-campus after revealing they are 'just over' 350 rooms short in halls to meet demand - despite offering freshers an 'accommodation guarantee'.

Manchester City's new signing Manuel Akanji has already explained why he has joined the Blues instead of his boyhood club Man United.

British Gas has issued an urgent £60 message to all Brits with iPhones. As bills continue to skyrocket, people are struggling increasingly to make ends meet.

Singer-songwriter Feist has announced that she will no longer fulfil the support slot on Arcade Fire's world tour, after the band's frontman was accused of sexual misconduct.

Amanda Holden has gone viral as her latest social media video baffled fans. The TV and radio star took to her TikTok and Instagram account to share a video of herself discussing her outfit.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.The critically-acclaimed theatre production, which opened at the Palace Theatre in London in 2016, also launched a book of the script.Ahead of performances this autumn, beginning on October 13, 2022, bosses behind the hit show have now revealed a new cast - including The Crown and Desperate Romantics actor Sam Crane as Harry Potter.READ NEXT: Harry Potter's Tom Felton 'returns' to Hogwarts after unveiling studio tour exhibitionHe will also be joined by newcomers Frances Gray as wife Ginny and Thomas Grant as Harry's son, Albus.That's not all, as existing cast members Thomas Alridge and Michelle Gayle will continue as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, alongside James Howard as Draco Malfoy and Adam Wadsworth as Draco's son, Scorpius.Following the cast announcement, fans flocked to social media to share their excitement, with one saying: "So exciting! Can't wait to see it."Another shared a GIF of Professor McGonagall clapping, alongside the tweet: "Look forward to seeing everyone!"One fan shared their tears of happiness through a GIF of a Doctor Who character crying, while another shared a GIF of a character crying with the caption: "Happy tears."Harry Potter and The Cursed Child takes place nearly two decades after the events of the final book in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows.It sees Harry's son struggle with his family's legacy as he begins his own journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, while Ministry of Magic employee Harry grapples with events of the past.Taking place over two parts, the past and present in Harry's worlds collide as uncomfortable truths are revealed and darkness emerges once more.The show, which was written by J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne and

Naman Ramachandran Sam Crane will play Harry Potter in the new company that commences performances on “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” at London’s Palace Theatre from Oct. 13.Crane’s credits include “The Crown,” “DNA” at the National Theatre, “Othello” at Shakespeare’s Globe and “Farinelli and the King” on Broadway.

JK Rowling has received a public message of support from Warner Bros. after the author received a death threat online. The Harry Potter author made a public plea for Twitter to take action after she received an online threat after fellow writer Sir Salmon Rushdie was stabbed at an event in New York. Sir Salmon, 75, was stabbed on stage at the Chautauqua Institution on Friday, leaving him on a ventilator. Hours after the news broke, Rowling, 57, tweeted a message of support for the author writing: ‘Horrifying news.

Broadway’s heavy hitters withstood New York’s heatwave last week, with MJ, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton selling out and Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into The Woods, Moulin Rouge!, Six, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and The Music Man coming very close.

Harry Potter star Chris Rankin has announced that he is engaged to his girlfriend of six years, Ness Beecroft. The actor, who played Percy Weasley in six out of eight of the films, made the announcement on his Instagram page, sharing a photo of the pair looking joyful as Beecroft shows off her engagement ring.

Chris Rankin, best known for his role as Percy Weasley in the hit films Harry Potter, has shared the happy news that he has proposed to long-term girlfriend Nessa Beecroft. The actor, 38, took to his Instagram to share the news with his 55.4k followers as he posted a picture of the two of them in Florida, where he popped the question, and they were all smiles as Nessa showed off her ring. Chris grinned as he took the selfie and he wore a colourful flowery shirt and sunglasses while Nessa stood behind her fiancé with her hand proudly on his shoulder to show fans the ring.