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This combination of pictures shows Kanye West attending the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills and the Logo of German sports equipment maker Adidas on a shop in Munich.- AFP

This picture taken on April 9, 2023, shows a general view of Pono Colony in Sanjar Chang village, in Tando Allahyar district. At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying Pakistan's rural communities, who are living on the frontline of climate change. The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP)

In this picture taken on April 9, 2023, Dhani Khomo, who trains others to make earthen stoves lifted off the floor, prepares tea at her open kitchen in Pono Colony at Sanjar Chang village, in Tando Allahyar district. At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying Pakistan's rural communities, who are living on the frontline of climate change. The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP)

In this picture taken on April 9, 2023, a girl places a mattress for drying at an elevated bamboo structure in Pono Colony at Sanjar Chang village, in Tando Allahyar district. At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying Pakistan's rural communities, who are living on the frontline of climate change. The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP)

TOPSHOT - In this picture taken on April 8, 2023, children leave a flood-resistant school at Pono Colony at Sanjar Chang village in Tando Allahyar district. At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying Pakistan's rural communities, who are living on the frontline of climate change. The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP)

HIROSHIMA: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) shaking hands with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) in Hiroshima, on the second day of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting. – AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference on the seventh anniversary of her tenure, at the Presidential Office in Taipei on May 20, 2023. – AFP

DHARAMSALA: Rajasthan Royals’ Shimron Hetmyer (right) speaks with Punjab Kings’ Arshdeep Singh as he walks back to the pavilion after his dismissal during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals on May 19, 2023. – AFP

(From L) British director Jonathan Glazer and Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Piotr Cywinski pose during a photocall for the film "The Zone Of Interest" at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2023. (Photo by Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)

By rajesh

May 20, 2023 07:16 p.m

Who is Jonathan Glazer, UK director wowing Cannes?

Jonathan Glazer has made just a handful of films in 20 years, but each has been unique, drawing highly memorable performances from stars such as Nicole Kidman and Ben Kingsley. A decade on from his last film, "Under the Skin”, the ultra-bizarre alien flick starring Scarlett Johansson, the enigmatic filmmaker is competing at the Cannes Film Festival with Holocaust drama "A Zone of Interest” that has scored laudatory reviews. Here’s a quick summary of the man and his work:

(From left) German actor Christian Friedel, British director Jonathan Glazer and German actress Sandra Hueller pose during a photocall for the film ‘The Zone Of Interest’ at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2023. – AFP photos

Ads and music videos

London-born Glazer, 58, began in the theatre before moving into adverts and music videos. He made memorable ads for Guinness, Stella Artois and Levi’s in the 1990s and several videos for Radiohead, as well as Jamiroquai’s "Virtual Insanity” which won the MTV video of the year award in 1997.

Festivalgoers walk with umbrellas on the sidelines of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2023.

‘Sexy Beast’ (2000)

Glazer caused a sensation with his first film starring Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, putting a bravura spin on the tired British gangster genre with the sort of searing images that characterized his ads and music videos. It gave the world one of most unforgettably insane characters ever committed to celluloid in Kingsley’s motor-mouthed psycho Don Logan - as distant as it’s possible to be from his best-known role as Gandhi - earning the actor an Oscar nomination.

Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann poses during a photocall for the film ëA Road Less Travelledí during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.

‘Birth’ (2004)

Radically switching genres, Glazer turned next to this eerie New York tale about a widow (Nicole Kidman) confronted by a 10-year-old who claims to be her reincarnated dead husband. The film confounded and scandalized critics at the time and was booed at its Venice Film Festival premiere, with many disturbed by the sexual overtones of the central relationship, but its reputation has grown over the years and earned comparisons with legendary director Stanley Kubrick.

‘Under the Skin’ (2013)

Glazer’s mysterious sci-fi set in a remote coastal Scottish town drew a stand-out performance from Scarlett Johansson, playing an alien in human form who roams the beaches and streets, picking up random men and luring them to an abandoned house. Mixing highly stylized abstract scenes with gritty Glasgow realism, Glazer’s film was both baffling and mesmerizing, but this time the critics were won over, with the film topping multiple film-of-the-year lists.

A guest arrives for the screening of the film ëBanel E Adamaí (Banel and Adama) during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.

‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023)

After a decade in which he only made a couple of short films, Glazer has returned with another unique offering - looking at the disturbing ordinary private life of a Nazi officer at the Auschwitz concentration camp. It never shows the horrors of the camp directly, but the audience knows full well what the background noises - trains, incinerators, gunshots and screams - signify. Critics have been near-unanimous in their praise.— AFP

May 20, 2023 07:16 PM

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