Director Sebastian Lelio feels that A Fantastic Woman has gone beyond the cinematic experience with its social message, to a great extent thanks to the performance of its star, Daniela Vega. The film follows Marina, a transgender woman who, after the passing of her older lover, is mistreated by his family …

Seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince is sitting in a darkened TV studio with lights, cameras and control panels all around her. “Mission to Mars, mission to Mars,” she says. “This is Apollo.”   Brooklynn, the cheerful star of “The Florida Project,” has indeed lifted off. Her performance as Moonee, a brash, trouble-making …

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” won warm reviews from most critics on Tuesday, a day before the latest installment in the sci-fi saga begins hitting movie theaters worldwide in what is projected to be the biggest-grossing movie of 2017. The Walt Disney Co. movie received four or five stars from …

Russia’s Olympic Committee agreed on Tuesday to support its athletes who choose to compete in next year’s Winter Games in South Korea as neutrals following a ban on the Russian national team. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week banned Russia from the Games, due to take place in Pyeongchang …

A reality TV show that celebrates honest civil servants in corruption-plagued countries has grown to reach new audiences in Mali and Liberia and aims to enlist the public’s help in fighting graft, the organizers said. Integrity Idol asks the public to nominate model civil servants and then vote for their …

This may or may not come as a surprise: Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2017 is “feminism.” Yes, it’s been a big year or two or 100 for the word. In 2017, look-ups for feminism increased 70 percent over 2016 on Merriam-Webster.com and spiked several times after key events, …

Princes William and Harry are due on the red carpet for the European premiere of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” in which the royal siblings reportedly make a cameo appearance. Royal officials refuse to comment on reports that the princes played stormtroopers in the sci-fi saga when they visited the …

Propelled by the power of hearing their stories in their own language, some Cambodian American audience members fled in tears from a screening of First They Killed My Father, the Angelina Jolie film adaptation of an English-language memoir of a 5-year-old girl who witnessed the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in …

Women were shut out of the directors race at the 2018 Golden Globe nominations Monday, while Ridley Scott’s scramble to reshoot All the Money in the World led to a surprise nod for actor Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey. Greta Gerwig, who made her solo directorial debut with the …

Mary J. Blige is dancing into the Golden Globe Awards as a double nominee — for her acting and songwriting — while Mariah Carey, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Nick Jonas are some of the other popular singers also nominated. Blige earned nominations Monday for her work in the Dee Rees’ …

Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn is warning young athletes in next year’s Pyeongchang winter Olympic Games not to underestimate the older competitors. Vonn, who won gold in the downhill skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, broke a bone in her arm last year but is training hard for Pyeongchang. …

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy romance “The Shape of Water” led the nominations for the 2018 Golden Globes on Monday, landing seven nods, including for best drama film, director and actress Sally Hawkins. Press freedom movie “The Post” had six nominations, including for its director, Steven Spielberg, and stars …

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it will allow movie theaters to open in the conservative kingdom next year, for the first time in more than 35 years, in the latest social push by the country’s young crown prince. It’s the latest stark reversal in a county where movie theaters were …

Mixed messages from the United States and concerns of a North Korean provocation could undermine South Korea’s plans to use the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics to further peace and reconciliation efforts. On Sunday, Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview with Fox News that …

Simeon Booker, a trail-blazing journalist and the first full-time African-American reporter at The Washington Post, has died at the age of 99. Booker died Sunday in Solomons, Maryland, according to a Post obituary, citing his wife Carol. Booker served for decades as the Washington bureau chief for the African-American publications …

A rare painting by Albert Namatjira, one of Australia’s most iconic Aboriginal artists, is to be sold to raise money for kidney patients in remote parts of central Australia. Indigenous people suffer kidney disease at 15 times the national average. Albert Namatjira was a trailblazer. Born in 1902 near Alice …

A sculptor who produced the image of Queen Elizabeth used on Britain’s coins has been chosen to create a new statue of Princess Diana, the office of Princes William and Harry said Sunday, to commemorate 20 years since her death. Ian Rank-Broadley, whose effigy of the Queen has appeared on …

If God were a stonemason … Utah’s Arches National Park would be the back room of his workshop. The Arches National Park, established almost a century ago, is now one of the most popular destinations for Americans and tourists from around the world. The park has more than 2,000 natural …

The federal anti-racketeering law has been used since the late 1970s to bring down mob bosses. Could it be used to prosecute Harvey Weinstein? Lawyers for six actresses who say they were sexually assaulted by the movie producer filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New York arguing that Weinstein was, essentially, …

Egypt authorities announced Saturday that archaeologists had discovered two small ancient tombs in Luxor, a southern city.  The tombs date back about 3,500 years and are located on the west bank of the river Nile. “It’s truly an exceptional day. … The 18th dynasty private tombs were already known. But it’s …

The tombs are the latest discovery in Luxor, which is known for its temples and tombs from different dynasties of ancient Egyptian history. …

France bid farewell to its biggest rock star Saturday, honoring Johnny Hallyday with an extravagant funeral procession down Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue, a presidential speech and a televised church ceremony filled with the country’s most famous faces. Few figures in French history have earned a send-off with as much pomp as …

A new exhibition aims to show how the art world has responded to the global changes since the terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 at London’s Imperial War Museum brings together 40 artists from across the world whose works reflect …

Washington’s annual Downtown Holiday Market is open for business. For the last 13 years, this unique seasonal market has provided shopping and entertainment from just after Thanksgving until right before Christmas. VOA’s Eunjung Cho reports. …

If you want to experience infinity, you’re going to have to wait a long time.   On a recent Saturday, the line to see Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s new Infinity Mirror Rooms stretched all the way around a Manhattan city block, the end of the line even meeting up with …