The situation in Lebanon by Myriam Nasr Shuman, the beautiful role of Hélène Vincent and the arrest of Gao Zhen in China

In Tout Public on Tuesday October 1, 2024, the situation in Lebanon by the director of the Lebanese magazine l’Agenda culturelle Myriam Nasr Shuman, Hélène Vincent for her role in “When Autumn Comes” by François Ozon, and the arrest of the Chinese artist Gao Zhen.

In view of recent events in Lebanon with the death of Hassan Nasrallah and the uncertain future of this region of the Middle East, Tout Public is keen to make the voices of Lebanese creators heard. Today, it’s Myriam Nasr Shuman, director of the Cultural Agenda, magazine which has been supporting artists in Lebanon for 30 years, which speaks out on the current crisis shaking its country.

Even if Myriam Nasr Shuman continues to go daily to the magazine’s editorial office located in Beirut, she tells us that it is impossible to forget the presence of war, which is everywhere. “In Beirut, we have the drone above our heads which makes a deafening noise. We cannot forget that we are in a period of war”she explains.

“We don’t live from day to day, we live almost from hour to hour.”

Myriam Nasr Shuman

franceinfo

Beyond the attack according to her “lawless” of Israel, Myriam Nasr Shuman supports the need for consultation between Lebanese, so that they “think together” on the future and the Lebanese State. The journalist expects no less from the Lebanese people, whose strength will allow the country to recover as it always has, according to her. “I have great faith in the Lebanese, in civil society. I know how quickly we get back on our feet, we get back on our feet and above all, we start up again like clockwork. We all have projects, we have all of us have lots of things in mind and as soon as we have the opportunity (…) we will do something”she confides with confidence and hope.

It is surely one of the most beautiful roles that she has been given to play in the cinema: at 81 years old, Hélène Vincent shares the poster with Josiane Balasko, 74 years old, for the film When autumn comeswhere she plays the role of Michelle, a grandmother who lives alone in her house in Burgundy. “When Francis [Ozon] offered me the script, I couldn’t believe my eyes having read what I had read”recalls the actress. Indeed, important roles in cinema given to people over 70 are not that common.

The actress manages to embody a character with a heavy and painful past, maintaining a difficult relationship with her daughter, which makes the film swing between thriller and drama; all enhanced by her friendship with Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), whom Hélène Vincent describes as a “infinitely precious relationship” between the two women. When autumn comes, a seasonal film, comforting, but which nevertheless breaks some cinema codes. Available in theaters from October 2, 2024.

Although it has been almost 60 years since China’s Cultural Revolution, mocking Mao Zedong is still severely punished by Chinese law. The artist Gao Zhen paid the price and was arrested by the regime. For good reason: his very ironic sculptures of Mao, the father of communist China.

“The repression of artists is a sign of the degree of evolution of a regime. (…) If a society cannot guarantee freedom of thought and expression, it will only go backwards.”estimated the sculptor and photographer Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist exiled abroad.

Gao Zhen’s arrest, however, did not provoke much reaction or mobilization, whether in China or internationally, due to “the terror imposed by the Chinese government”denounces the Chinese artist exiled in France, Wang Keping.

A program with the participation of Matteu Maestracci, journalist in the Franceinfo culture department, and Dominique André, journalist, former Radio France correspondent in China, author of the podcast Xi Jinping, the red prince.