Video game performers’ strike enters its 9th month
The union has isolated the performers for months, leaving them to fight giant corporations on their own.
Hong Jian•
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 11
East German film comedies from the 1970s–Don’t Cheat, Darling!, Orpheus in the Underworld, Carnations in Aspic
Thirty-five years after its dissolution, a stream of television films and documentaries continue to be made about the GDR, presenting the state solely as a brutal dictatorship demonstrating the failure of socialism.
Bernd Reinhardt•
Rhode Island School of Design shuts down pro-Palestinian art exhibition
The exhibition came under vicious attack by the far-right StopAntisemitism on X.
David Walsh•
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 10
The Settlement, a highly topical film from Egypt dealing with the working class
This is a gripping film, without nostalgic working class romanticism or "proletarian hero" pathos, and also without the moralistically tinged tone of petty-bourgeois intellectuals, which characterises many other socially critical films.
Verena Nees •
Santiago Guillen•
David Walsh•
Nick Barrickman•
John Vassilopoulos, Lucy Connell•
Erik Schreiber•
Adolescence: Gripping realism explores social pressures behind young male violence
The series asks how 13-year-old Jamie came to be capable of stabbing to death his schoolmate Katie, addressing themes of social breakdown, parenting, social media, bullying and the many malign influences on young men and boys.
Thomas Scripps•
The scandal of Toxic Town—birth defects linked to pollution in former UK steel town Corby
Toxic Town, a scandal about birth defects in UK town Corby dramatized in 4 episodes, is streaming now on Netflix.
Margot Miller•
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth: TV series dramatises Lockerbie relatives’ campaign for justice
A powerful new TV series recounts Lockerbie relative and campaigner Jim Swire’s dedicated struggle for the truth behind his daughter’s 1988 murder in the downing of PA103.
Steve James•
The thesis of Squid Game 2: Capitalism is a hell of our own making
Three years after the “survival drama” phenomenon attracted millions of viewers’ attention worldwide, Squid Game’s second season struggles to build on the series’ cracked foundation.
Luke Galvin•
Paul Bond•
David Walsh, Joanne Laurier•
Walter Gilberti•
Paul Bond•
David Walsh•
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 11
East German film comedies from the 1970s–Don’t Cheat, Darling!, Orpheus in the Underworld, Carnations in Aspic
Thirty-five years after its dissolution, a stream of television films and documentaries continue to be made about the GDR, presenting the state solely as a brutal dictatorship demonstrating the failure of socialism.
Bernd Reinhardt•
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 10
The Settlement, a highly topical film from Egypt dealing with the working class
This is a gripping film, without nostalgic working class romanticism or "proletarian hero" pathos, and also without the moralistically tinged tone of petty-bourgeois intellectuals, which characterises many other socially critical films.
Verena Nees •
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 9
Vivian Qu’s Girls on Wire from China—A doomed attempt to combine social realism with #MeToo
The message of the movie appears not to go beyond the platitudes of MeToo: that “women” although, inevitably the victim, are also “strong,” while men invariably tend to be bad.
Clara Weiss•
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 8
Two films dealing with racism and fascism: The Moelln Letters and The Lie
Together with The German People, the documentaries The Moelln Letters and The Lie were met with great interest at this year’s Berlin film festival.
Bernd Reinhardt•
Steve James•
Isabel Roy•
Martin Nowak, Bernd Reinhardt•
Joanne Laurier•
Isabel Roy, Verena Nees•
Darkside, MIKE and Sharon Van Etten: New music amid intensifying crisis
How are popular musicians responding—if they are—to deepening social turmoil?
Erik Schreiber•
“We must have love for those against us”
The Purple Bird and the good intentions of Bonnie “Prince” Billy
On his latest, country-oriented album, Will Oldham shows concern about the world’s ills, but offers misguided ideas about how to cure them.
Erik Schreiber•
Kneecap, the movie—funny, noisy and sympathetic
Kneecap, the movie is part comedy, part fictionalised music biopic, part contribution to Irish language rights and part investigation of the state of mind of a generation in the North of Ireland.
Steve James•
Soul, rhythm and blues and jazz singer Roberta Flack, 1937-2025
At her peak, the singer’s music was capable of great depth, sincerity and emotional intimacy, which she seemingly conjured from thin air.
Nick Barrickman•
Stefan Steinberg•
Thomas Scripps•
Shannon Jones, Valery Tsekov•
Ed Hightower•
David Walsh•
Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America, by Garrett Epps
The Fourteenth Amendment was the product of a democratic revolutionary change that sought to put the Constitution on a genuine egalitarian footing.
Eric London•
Danzy Senna’s Colored Television: Lacking the “pathos of distance”
There is promise in Senna’s demonstrating an awareness that there exists a “racial identity-industrial complex” in the contemporary world of art and culture.
James McDonald•
A conversation with Joseph McBride about his study of Hollywood film director George Cukor: “There are many flawed people in his films, but Cukor understands human imperfection”—Part 2
This is the second part of an interview with Joseph McBride, author of George Cukor’s People. The first part was posted January 8.
David Walsh•
A conversation with Joseph McBride about his study of Hollywood film director George Cukor: “There are many flawed people in his films, but Cukor understands human imperfection”–Part 1
First part of an interview with film historian, critic and biographer Joseph McBride about his new book George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director, a study of the Hollywood director whose career in feature films lasted half a century, from 1930 to 1981.
David Walsh•
Thomas Scripps•
Andrea Peters•
Steve Long•
David North•
Eric London•
Film director Prasanna Vithanage discusses Paradise with the WSWS
The mass anti-government agitation in Sri Lanka “was the result of real class differences in our society, the divisions between the haves and the have nots” – Prasanna Vithanage
Richard Phillips•
Interview with Hany Abu-Assad, Palestinian filmmaker (Paradise Now, Omar): “Gaza is the Bastille of our day … a lot is going to change”
One of his most accomplished works is Omar, a 2013 film about a young Palestinian baker (Adam Bakri) who becomes involved in complex political and moral matters.
David Walsh•
Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage denounces Israeli genocide in Gaza
“I strongly denounce state-sponsored witch-hunt and prosecution against artists and activists who have come forward against Israel’s genocide.”
Wasantha Rupasinghe•
Roger Stahl discusses Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood with WSWS
Department of Defense interventions into American entertainment media is to “get people acclimated to the presence of military personnel, military bases, military operations, and weapons… normalizing the presence of the military in almost every aspect of life.”
Richard Phillips•
David Walsh•
David Walsh•
Vimukthi Vidarshana and Shree Haran•
Richard Phillips•
David Walsh•