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Dame Julie Walters reveals shock of bowel cancer diagnosis
Dame Julie Walters has revealed she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer.
The actress, who has starred in Mamma Mia, Billy Elliot and Educating Rita, told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire she initially thought doctors “must have made a mistake”.
Having had chemotherapy, the actress has now been given the all clear.
She said her next film, The Secret Garden, could possibly be her last – although she is not certain to retire.
Dame Julie said she had been diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer – which means the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes but not to distant body parts – 18 months ago, with two primary tumours in her large intestine.
The 69-year-old said she had first gone to see her doctor a year earlier with indigestion and “slight discomfort”, and later returned with symptoms such as stomach pain, heartburn and vomiting.
She was then referred to a gastric surgeon, where she had a CT scan.
The actress had been on set filming The Secret Garden when she received a phone call asking her to come in. The specialist told her they had found an abnormality in her intestine, and feared it was cancer.
“I was still thinking, ‘That’s ridiculous, he must have made a mistake’. I couldn’t believe it,” Dame Julie said.
She remembers, still in shock, the moment she told her husband Grant Roffey the news.
“I’ll never forget his face. Tears came into his eyes.
Dame Julie said she had always maintained hope of a recovery, having been told by her doctor: “We can fix this.”
But she said there were moments – especially waiting for surgery – when she thought: “Well, I may not come round from the anaesthetic.”
Dame Julie explained she had “30cm taken out of my colon” in hospital.
On coming round from her anaesthetic, she said – still feeling its effects – she had had the “weird” experience of “feeling absolutely marvellous”.
“I said to the night nurse, ‘Is Love Island on?’ – because we were talking about it – and we watched it together.
“It was only a couple of days later I thought, I feel exhausted, and a bit low actually.”
After being initially reluctant, she opted for chemotherapy, which she said was “fine” and had not caused hair loss.
Smiling, she said she was now she was “really well”, adding: “I’ve just had a scan, and I know that [I’m] clear.”
Her recovery, however, had meant she had to be cut from certain scenes in the soon-to-be-released film The Secret Garden, in which she stars alongside Colin Firth.
She said she also missed the premiere of Mamma Mia 2, with her agent telling people she had a ruptured hernia so she could keep the diagnosis out of the spotlight.
Dame Julie told Derbyshire – who has previously documented her own recovery from cancer in a series of video diaries – the diagnosis had “completely changed” her perspective towards acting.
“The person before the operation is different to this person.”
She said it was in some ways a “huge relief” to get off the “merry-go-round” of starring in films and on television – which she said although she found enjoyable, was also stressful and consuming.
“I was due to do two big series… and there were two films. And I just didn’t have to do any of it. And that was wonderful.”
Asked if she thought The Secret Garden could be her last film, she said it was possible.
“It would have to be something I’m really engaged with [to take another role on].
“I’m not saying I’ll never act again. But I certainly don’t think I can go back to [a film that requires working] six days a week, five in the morning till seven o’clock at night.”
What are bowel cancer symptoms?
A persistent change in bowel habit – going more often, with looser stools and sometimes tummy pain
- Blood in the stools without other symptoms, such as piles
- Abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating – sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
Most people with these symptoms do not have bowel cancer, but the NHS advice is to see your GP if you have one or more of the symptoms and they have persisted for more than four weeks.
And if you, or someone you know, have been affected by cancer, information and support is available on the BBC’s Action Line page.
Trump isn’t pleased a South Korean film won best-picture Oscar
President Donald Trump bemoaned this year’s Academy Award winner for best picture, “Parasite,” on Thursday because it’s a South Korean film.
Film fans gear up for Nollywood-Bollywood crossover
The Nigerian star of upcoming movie Namaste Wahala has told fans that filming has wrapped ahead of its release on 24 April.
Ini Dima-Okojie plays opposite Indian actor Ruslaan Mumtaz in a “love story that cuts across the cultures of two countries”.
News of the upcoming film has delighted and amused fans:
“Nollywood featuring Bollywood? This is about to be the most dramatic, over-exaggerated movie ever made,” Twitter user Official Gracie said
.
“The name alone wants me to watch it. Namaste [means] peace. Wahala [means] trouble/problem. Gotta watch it with some Chicken Biryani and Jollof Rice for the culture(s),” said Jerome Antwin-Lewis
.
“A Nollybollywood romance called Namaste Wahala is exactly the type of film this world needs. I cannot wait to see it,” Ronke Lawal tweeted
Nigeria and India boast two of the world’s biggest film industries – each year generating an estimated $800m (£620m)
and $2.6bn respectively
SOURCE: BBC AFRICA
Nikita Pearl Waligwa: Queen of Katwe stars pay tribute
Stars of the film Queen of Katwe have paid tribute to actress Nikita Pearl Waligwa who has died at the age of 15.
Waligwa had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and died in hospital in Kampala on Sunday.
She starred in the 2016 film which was based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a chess prodigy from a Ugandan slum.
Her co-star David Oyelowo wrote on Instagram: “She was a ball of light in Queen of Katwa and in life.”
He played the role of Phiona Mutesi’s chess teacher while Lupita Nyong’o played her mother.
Waligwa featured as the character Gloria, a friend of Phiona who explained the rules of chess to her.
Ms Nyong’o said on Instagram: “She played Gloria with such vibrancy. In her real life she had the enormous challenge of battling brain cancer.”
Waligwa was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016 and Queen of Katwe director Mira Nair reportedly mobilised people to help fund her treatment in India, with Ugandan doctors reportedly saying they did not have the necessary equipment.
In Uganda, only a fraction of patients with such serious conditions get the medical help they need due to costs.
She was given the all-clear in 2017 and went back to secondary school. However, last year, she was found to have another tumour.
“You were a darling to many and we have lost you to a brain tumour at such a tender age,” Gayaza High School said.
SOURCE BBC NEWS
Pregnant actresses: ‘We’re not treated like people’
Claire Danes’s pregnant belly was hidden with computer graphics in the second season of Homeland, Olivia Coleman hid hers in big sweaters during filming of The Night Manager. And when Gillian Anderson’s bump could no longer be hidden on the X-files, “Scully” was abducted by aliens.
But not all actors are indulged by the production.
Those playing smaller parts in films and commercials often find they are forced to hide their pregnancies, not from the viewers but from people making the programmes themselves.
Some are successful, but many are mistreated by an industry marked by high staff turnover, an overabundance of competition and in some cases, a profound lack of respect.
Several women spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity. All say they lost jobs or auditions when it was found they were pregnant.
Either they were asked to disclose their pregnancy on a form before their audition, or they were asked in person during their interview.
Three who spoke to the BBC were not showing at the time their commercials would have been shot.
‘I felt so weak’
Sarah (not her real name) describes herself as a jobbing actress. She mainly works on films and TV but commercials help her to pay the bills.
Early in her pregnancy, she had reservations about a commercial audition that her agent had scheduled. She decided to tell him her news and she expected the worst.
“But, he was brilliant,” she says. He told her about her rights. How under the Equality Act, she was not required to disclose her pregnancy until 15 weeks before her due date.
“They are not allowed to discriminate against you,” he promised.
The casting notice for the audition, often called a breakdown, said the ad might require some physical activity, but also mentioned a stunt double might be used for the more highly athletic moments.
Together, Sarah and her agent decided she should just go to the audition and see. “You always want to be ready and available for work,” she says.
Her worry grew as she sat among the other actresses in the waiting area outside of the audition room.
Women coming out of the session were stressed and said the experience was physically taxing. Sarah was up next. Her name was called alongside another actress who was also auditioning for the same role. They went in as a pair to see the casting director.
The other woman was chosen first to read out the lines. Then the casting director turned to Sarah.
“You’ll do the physical part. Are you fit?” she was asked. “I am fit, but I need to be safe,” she said.
“Why?” said the casting director. “Because I am pregnant,” said Sarah.
She says the casting director then became angry, saying: “Didn’t you read the script? What did you think we were going to do today? I don’t even understand why you have come. Don’t you think it was a bad idea?”
Sarah says she felt humiliated, and froze.
“I said to the casting director I’m so sorry for wasting your time, and then I even said to the other actress – I’m so sorry didn’t mean to waste your time either”.
“Then the casting director said, ‘Yes, I think it’s best if you leave’.”
Sarah left the casting and once on the street, she burst into tears. “It made me feel so unconfident about my pregnancy and my own physical ability. It made me feel so weak.”
Her “confidence was knocked,” she says, until she won a role on a television series, where the production was much friendlier and had no problem shooting her from the bump up.
Tim Gale, head of commercials at the actor’s union, Equity, is well acquainted with standing up for his members on this issue.
“We used to get two to three calls a week but we get less than one a month now,” says Mr Gale.
Sometimes, a form is provided in the waiting room which asks an actor to tick a box to say if they or their partner are expecting.
Actors of both sexes who sent the BBC copies of these forms, say that when they disclosed a pregnancy, jobs they had secured were either pulled or delayed.
A few said they spoke with the union and assumed the problem had been sorted after their particular situation was treated.
But Mr Gale says even in recent weeks, he has seen these forms pop up.
Actors’ Equity along with the Casting Directors Association and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, have drafted an artist declaration form.
The form only asks an actor to disclose any reputational risk or any reason an actor might not be able to travel by plane. There is no mention of pregnancy.
The actor’s union has lobbied production companies to use this new form, but there is such high staff turnover in production companies, the old forms keep popping up.
Sometimes the insurance companies that underwrite commercial productions demand such a form be used and Equity has had to fight this, too.
Pregnancy is not a disability under the Equality Act – and therefore insurance companies cannot demand the production company deny work to those expecting.
‘A long road’
If an actress wins a role, an insurance company is allowed to ask after the health of an actress. Commercial productions only film for a day or two and an intense risk assessment is carried out to factor costs that might occur from a delay in shooting.
While it is not appropriate to ask at the job interview stage, once they are cast, the insurance company backing the production can ask, for example, if an actress is pregnant.
They can also raise their premiums if they find out a woman is pregnant, but extra costs have no impact on the law. The actress cannot be fired, as it would be discrimination.
However, experts say, the same insurance company could be liable if a director or producer misuses that information and the actress is fired.
“Things are much better than they were, even five years ago. But it has been a long road getting to this point,” says Mr Gale.
The association which represents casting directors says it is not acceptable to ask actors if they are pregnant “before or at casting calls”.
“If actors are pregnant, we would expect casting directors to support them, as well as those who may be breastfeeding or have childcare commitments,” says Kate Evans the chair of the Casting Directors Association.
Know your rights
Many actors are unaware of their rights under the 2010 Equality Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission – responsible for enforcing the act – says actors should not be asked any personal questions about relationships and family planning in interviews.
“Such attitudes are straight out of the dark ages and have no place in a modern working culture,” says the Commission. “Everyone has the right to work and a working environment that allows them to achieve their full potential.”
Katie Wood, a barrister for Maternity Action says sometimes the law is misinterpreted because employers think the Equality Act only covers full-time employees, but pregnancy rights extend to the self-employed as well.
“To ask someone about whether their partner was pregnant holds the potential for associative discrimination,” she says.
English case law on actors is varied and in some results, actors have been categorised as “service providers”. This means they work like a sole trader who might provide a service to a company, much like a plumber. But Ms Wood says even then, the Equality Act applies.
‘Lonely experience’
One actress tells the BBC that she continued to work because she just “flat out refused” to mention her pregnancy. “I didn’t tell my agent. I didn’t tell anyone. I was afraid it would cost me work.”
She was cast in a film and between the costume fitting and the movie shoot there were a couple of weeks.
“When I put on my costume I had definitely gained weight. They asked, ‘what happened?’ And I just threw up my hands and said, ‘Oh, yeah. I wonder why’.”
She did not know what her rights were and she felt it was just better to keep it a secret because actors are “so easily replaceable”.
Having courage was hard, she says. “I had such bad sickness in the beginning, but couldn’t tell anyone. I was also nervous because what if something went wrong?
“What should have been such a natural thing was a really lonely experience.”
Another actress agrees: “As actors, we are not treated like people. It’s like we just don’t matter.”
Netflix accused of ‘superhighway robbery’ in Parliament
Netflix has been accused of committing “superhighway robbery” by not paying any corporation tax in the UK.
Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge told MPs the taxpayer was “being taken for a ride” by the video streaming service.
Quoting research from the think tank Tax Watch, she said the firm should have paid over £13m in UK tax in 2019 but “deliberately avoided” doing so.
Netflix says it complies with the rules of countries it operates in, adding that taxation reform is needed.
The company said it supported “the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s) proposal for companies to pay more tax in the countries where their operations help generate value”.
Responding for the government in the debate, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, told MPs he could not comment on individual companies.
But, he added, under international tax rules the UK was already entitled to tax the share of a company’s profits that relate to production activities.
And he said that creative industries made an important contribution to the economy.
Dame Margaret, who has waged a long-running campaign against big tech firms over alleged tax avoidance, called for the government to extend its new digital services tax to cover video streaming services when it comes into force on 1 April 2020.
The current plan will see the likes of Facebook, Google and Amazon pay 2% of revenues to the Treasury to correct the “misalignment between the place where profits are taxed and the place where value is created”.
The ex-Labour minister said including Netflix would ensure the firm, whose whose hit shows include The Crown, “starts to pay its fair share”.
According to estimates by Tax Watch, Netflix had 11.62 million subscribers in the UK in 2019.
The think tank said this would have generated £1.1bn in income for the company, with an estimated profit of £69m – meaning it should have paid £13m in tax.
In its latest filing with Companies’ House, the UK arm of Netflix said it only made profits of £2.35m in the country.
Dame Margaret, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on responsible taxation, also said Netflix received £924,000 from the UK government via the high-end television tax relief, given to companies that produce television shows in the UK.
She told MPs: “Netflix takes out of the public purse more than it contributes in corporation tax. While Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs fails to collect money from it in corporation tax, the US government is extracting tax from the same profits that it earns here and then hides in unknown tax havens.”
She added: “What is particularly galling is that Netflix actually makes a net profit from the UK taxpayer. In the last two years it has received nearly £1m from the government in tax credits, and that is just the start.
“It is nothing less than superhighway robbery. The UK taxpayer is being taken for a ride. We are actually handing over cash while Netflix stashes money offshore.”
‘Create value’
Dame Margaret said that Netflix was “far from the only culprit” and “tax credit abuse is rife in other industries, including film and video games”.
In response, Treasury minister Mr Norman said: “The government does recognise that some multinational businesses have sought to avoid paying their fair share of tax in the UK by entering into contrived arrangements to divert profits to low tax jurisdictions.
“The effect of this is to deprive the Exchequer of revenues needed to fund the public services on which we all rely.
“It’s completely unacceptable, which is why the government has taken robust action designed to inhibit or prevent it.”
He said the government’s digital services tax was designed to target companies that “rely on their users to create value where that value is not recognised under current international tax rules”.
But the new tax was meant to be a “temporary measure pending agreement of a long-term global solution, potentially including the United States, that will address the wider challenges posed by digitisation”.
He also reminded MPs that Netflix was “planning to invest about £232m in Shepperton Studios”, near London, which, he said, was “not a trivial act”.
Mr Norman said businesses should be “incentivised” to invest in the UK’s creative economy, and added: “It is equally right that HMRC should subject large businesses to an appropriate level of scrutiny and my understanding is they are actively investigating around half of the UK’s large businesses at any given time.”
Netflix said in a statement: “We believe that international taxation needs reform and support the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s) proposal for companies to pay more tax in the countries where their operations help generate value.
“In the meantime, we comply with the rules in every country where we operate.
“The Tax Watch report has a number of inaccuracies, including that Netflix has a Caribbean-based entity.
“This is no longer the case as we significantly simplified our tax structure last year.
“Netflix continues to invest heavily in the UK – spending more than £400m on local productions in 2019, which helped to create over 25,000 jobs and training placements.”
Jussie Smollett faces six new charges
TV actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Illinois on six counts of lying to police.
The Empire actor said he was the subject of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago last year.
Authorities have accused him of staging the attack on himself for publicity, something he has always denied.
Smollett now faces six counts of disorderly conduct, special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement.
What does Smollett say happened?
In January last year, Chicago police said they were investigating a suspected racist and homophobic attack on Smollett by two masked men.
They said the actor was punched in the face, had an “unknown chemical substance” poured on him and a rope wrapped around his neck.
Smollett told police the two attackers also made reference to Maga, or Make America Great Again – the slogan often used by President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Why was he arrested?
In February last year, Smollett was arrested.
Police accused the actor of paying two brothers to carry out the attack “to promote his career” because he was “dissatisfied with his salary”.
What’s the latest?
Mr Webb, the special prosecutor assigned in August to investigate how local prosecutors handled the case, said in a statement he was going to further prosecute Smollett.
The actor was charged with “making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, knowing that he was not the victim of a crime,” Mr Webb said.
He added that his office had obtained “sufficient factual evidence” to argue that prosecutors were wrong to drop the case last year.
Smollett is due in court on 24 February.
The city has also sued the actor in a civil suit, seeking payment of more than $130,000 (£100,000) for overtime paid to officers involved in investigating his claims. Smollett has filed a counter suit.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala dies
Joseph Shabalala, who helped introduce the sound of traditional Zulu music to the world, has died aged 78.
The musician was best known as the founder and director of choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which won five Grammy awards and featured heavily on Paul Simon’s Graceland album.
They also reached number 15 in the UK charts with a cover of Swing Low Sweet Chariot, for the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Shabalala died in hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, the band’s manager said.
“Yes it’s true. Mr Shabalala passed on this morning,” Xolani Majozi told the South Africa Times.
“The group is on tour in the US, but they have been informed and are devastated because the group is family.”
The South African Government paid tribute to the musician in a tweet, saying: “We would like to extend our condolences on the passing of Joseph Shabalala who was the founder of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
It added in Xhosa, “Ulale ngoxolo Tata ugqatso lwakho ulufezile.” (Rest in peace, father, your race is complete.)
Born in 1941, Shabalala was the eldest of eight children living on a farm in Tugela, near the town of Ladysmith in South Africa.
“When I was a young boy I dreamt of becoming an educated person; maybe a teacher, doctor or something like that,” he told South Africa’s The Citizen in 2014.
However, he was forced to leave school at the age of 12 when his father died, working on the family farm and, later, in a local factory.
In his spare time, he would sing with friends in a local group called the Blacks.
“The young boys when they get together, they started to sing the songs, until the mamas and the neighbours said, ‘Hey, do it again,'” he told the BBC.
“It was just like that. They were calling, ‘Do it again, do it again’.”
He eventually became the leader and main composer for the choir, fusing indigenous Zulu songs and dances with South African isicathamiya, an a capella tradition that was frequently accompanied by a soft, shuffling style of dance.
They were re-christened Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a name that was significant on several levels: Ladysmith represented their hometown, Black referenced the black oxen that were the strongest on the farm, and Mambazo, from the Zulu word for axe, symbolized the group’s ability to cut down the competition.
A radio performance in 1970 led to a recording contract, and in 1973 they released Africa’s first gold-selling album, Amabutho.
They achieved global recognition after being recruited to sing on Paul Simon’s multi-million-selling Graceland album, most notably on Homeless, a song Shabalala co-wrote with Simon, based on the melody for a traditional Zulu wedding song.
The band joined Simon on his subsequent world tour. In return, he produced their next three albums – with 1987’s Shaka Zulu winning a Grammy for best traditional folk recording.
Shabalala retired from active performance in 2014 shortly after performing at a memorial concert for Nelson Mandela.
He continued to teach traditional choral music, while four of his sons (and one grandson) continued his legacy within Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
The musician was with his wife Thokozile Shabalala, in his final moments, said Xolani Majozi.
As news of his death spread, tributes poured in from around the world.
“My friend, a giant humble man, Joseph Shabalala, passed away this morning,” wrote South African singer Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse on Twitter. “My sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
“I am deeply saddened,” wrote Herman Mashaba, former mayor of Johannesburg. “You will be remembered as a giant of South African music and a pioneer of the industry.”
Oscars 2020: South Korea’s Parasite makes history by winning best picture.
South Korean film Parasite has been named best picture at this year’s Oscars, becoming the first non-English language film to take the top prize.
Renee Zellweger won best actress for playing Judy Garland in Judy. Joaquin Phoenix was named best actor for Joker.
Brad Pitt and Laura Dern scooped the supporting acting awards for their roles in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story respectively.
Parasite won four awards in total, while Sir Sam Mendes’s 1917 took three.
The World War One epic had been the favorite to win best picture, but its awards all came in the technical categories.
Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho beat Sir Sam to the prize for best director, and also took the best original screenplay award.
The film is a vicious social satire about two families from different classes in Seoul – one who live in poverty in a semi-basement, and another rich family residing in a large home.
It has now managed what no other subtitled film has done in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards and won best picture.
“I feel like I’ll wake up to find it’s all a dream. It all feels very surreal,” Bong said.
Producer Kwak Sin-ae, who collected the trophy, said: “I’m speechless. We never imagined this to happen. I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now.”
There were boos when organizers tried to cut short the best picture acceptance speech by turning the stage lights off – leading the lights to be turned back on, allowing the celebrations to continue.
Pitt won the first acting Oscar of his career – picking up the best supporting actor trophy for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s film.
He was the first winner of the night, and immediately used his speech to attack the way the impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump were handled.
He referred to the fact that Republican senators voted against allowing witnesses including former National Security Adviser John Bolton to give evidence.
“They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week,” he said. “I’m thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it and in the end the adults do the right thing.”
The 56-year-old moved from the political to the personal, paying tribute to co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and reflecting on his journey to Hollywood superstardom.
“I’m a bit gobsmacked,” he said, getting emotional. “I’m not one to look back, but this has made me do so.”
Gambia Celebrate fashion
Entertainment In Gambia
Ebrima John Jaiteh a veteran actor of the Gambia film industry becomes the winner of Fashion Award Gambia as the most stylist male actor 2020. congratulations!!!
Miss Mariam Colley; an actress, radio presenter, youth activist and founder of studio 411. comes out as the winner of the award, most stylist actress 2020. congratulations!!!
the event was held on Saturday 7th February, 2020 at pencha mi hall (paradise suit hotel) to celebrate and appreciate fashion in the Gambia.
D5 Creation