Emily in Paris, Fede Alvarez's Romulus and an exhibition dedicated to Pedro Almodóvar's love for Madrid: here are the best things to do in Europe this weekend.
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While summer is still going strong for Swifties, the cultural focus for everyone else is festivals, more festivals, and, if you check your notes, facehuggers (Alien: Romulus is out now; more on that later).
If you live or are visiting Brussels this weekend, the historic flower carpet that covers the Grand Place every two years will be on display until August 18th. We also recommend seeing John Cassavetes' A Woman Under The Influence (1974), in honour of Gena Rowlands, who passed away this week at the age of 94.
Exhibition
“Madrid, the Almodóvar Girl” at the Conde Duque Cultural Center (Madrid, Spain)
Madrid is a heartland for almost all directors Pedro Almodóvar. The Spanish director, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival and will premiere his first English-language film, The Next Room, at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of his career. His first short film, Two Courtesans, was released in 1974. Madrid has been an essential backdrop for many of Almodóvar's works, and the Conde Duque Cultural Center, the setting of this new exhibition, also features in The Laws of Desire (1987). More than 200 photographs from the director's films will be on display, exploring his relationship with the Spanish capital and how it has influenced and informed the tone and atmosphere of his work.
“Peter Cushing” exhibition at Whitstable Community Museum & Gallery, Whitstable, UK
British actor Peter Cushing was, and remains, an icon of Hammer horror films. Starring in over 100 films in a career spanning six decades, he is best known for his roles as Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing in Dracula, appearing in a total of 22 Hammer Studios films. The actor lived in the small town of Whitstable, England, for 35 years with his wife Helen Cushing. That makes the Community Museum & Gallery the perfect location for a new exhibition dedicated to his life and career. Exhibits include a life-sized face mold used as a prosthetic in Top Secret! (1984), a sculpture of his head from when he played Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, and a selection of Cushing's personal artwork. A must-see for both Cushing and Hammer horror fans, the exhibition will, in the words of Baron Frankenstein, “give you life again.” It closes in September 2025, so there's plenty of time to see it.
Festivals and Events
Edinburgh Arts Festival
The Fringe isn't the only big cultural event happening in Edinburgh right now. There's also the annual arts festival, which runs until 25 August 2024. Founded 20 years ago and aiming to nurture emerging visual artists from Scotland and the world, the city is filled with fascinating shows. Highlights include Karol Radziszewski's show Filo, which centres around Filo Magazine, one of the first LGBTQ+ magazines in Central and Eastern Europe, and Scottish artist Adam Bruce Thomson's moving retrospective, which displays over 100 works. The majority of the events are free to attend, making it a great alternative to the very expensive Fringe. But on that note, Euronews Culture's Jonny Walfisz has put together a handy guide to enjoying festivals on the cheap for those looking to attend both.
Sarajevo Film Festival (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Founded in 1995, the Sarajevo Film Festival is the Balkans' leading film and television festival, shining a spotlight on underrepresented filmmakers from southeastern Europe. Sandwiched between Locarno and the upcoming Venice Film Festival, it will run from August 17 to 22 at the Swissotel in downtown Sarajevo. This year's lineup includes the return of last year's festival Director of the Year winner Philip Sotnichenko with Ukrainian war drama “Times New Roman.” Bulgarian directing duo Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova will present “Mother/Papa,” a character study about an overweight woman who writes slogans for sex toys. Aida Begić, director of “Children of Sarajevo,” which won a special prize in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, will present “Air in a Bottle,” a film about a woman who tries to repair a relationship by helping her estranged daughter plan her wedding.
Green Man Festival, Bannow Brycheiniog, Wales
There's no better way to “touch the grass” than spending a long weekend in the lush Welsh mountains at the annual indie music festival Green Man. Despite growing in popularity over the years, the festival is beloved for remaining small and secretive with an authentic, non-corporate and community feel. This year's lineup features artists such as Jon Hopkins, King Creosote, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Explosions in the Sky, Julia Holter, Devendra Banhart and many more. Come along!
movie
Alien: Romulus
Calling all facehuggers! Heart-pounding action awaits. Alien: Romulus, the seventh installment in the series, returns to the Alien universe from director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead – 2013). Set nearly 20 years after the events of Ridley Scott's 1979 original, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) stars as a new Ripley. As part of a young crew on an escape mission, they come face to face with a profusely drooling Xenomorph after discovering an abandoned space station that they hoped would provide fuel for their journey to a better place. “Alien: Romulus could be considered a rejuvenation of the franchise, a great time for talkies, but with some flaws along the way,” writes David Morican of Euronews Culture. You can read his full review here.
TV series
Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Like last week's UK version of Love is Blind, Emily in Paris is one of those shows you sometimes need after a long day of dealing with the endless existentialism of having a human brain. Turn it off and turn this one on. The show is about a marketing executive named Emily (Lily Collins) who moves from the US to the city of love and tries to navigate work, life and hot guys. It's in its fourth season, but it's pretty much the same thing. It's low-stakes drama in a glamorous and seductively empty world. Frustrating? For some, it is, but it's also definitely soul-calming fast-food TV. Side note: If you're craving some Paris-set content after the Olympics, check out Pixar's Ratatouille.
music
Rosie Lowe: “Lover, Other”
For her fourth album, Rosie Lowe shed her perfectionism. With a mini-studio packed into a suitcase, the 34-year-old singer made the album on a journey across Europe: Florence, Berlin, London and her hometown of Devon. The tracks reflect this free-flowing sense of adventure and creative abandon, shifting between bouncy beats and silky synths, collectively forming sinuous soundscapes that make you feel like you've stepped into the unknown, ready to embrace whatever comes your way.
