Cord Jefferson's "American Fiction," a biting satire starring Jeffrey Wright as a disillusioned academic, has won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, a much-watched bellwether in the Oscar race.

"American Fiction" is the directorial debut of Jefferson, the veteran TV writer of "Watchmen" and "Succession," and an adaptation of Percival Everett's 2001 novel "Erasure." The film, about an author who resents that the literary industry is only interested in "Black books" that cater to the stereotypes of white audiences, emerged as a breakout hit at TIFF.

In a normal year — if there is any such thing in Hollywood anymore — the 75th Emmy Awards ceremony would be Monday night, and the many nominees from shows like " Succession " and " Ted Lasso " would be claiming their trophies or happily clapping for the winners.

Instead, the actors and writers strikes brought a postponement until January.

Thirty Seconds to Mars is back with a new clutch of songs born from the pandemic and collected under a very long title. "It's the End of the World But It's a Beautiful Day" is exactly what it sounds like — optimistic, despite the doom.

"I really feel like it represents where we're at as a planet, as a people," says Jared Leto, who formed the band with his brother, Shannon. "You keep waiting for crazy to be over. But there's just one more day. And sometimes it's easy to forget that life is full of promise and hope and beauty."

European regulators slapped TikTok with a $368 million fine on Friday for failing to protect children's privacy, the first time that the popular short video-sharing app has been punished for breaching Europe's strict data privacy rules.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead privacy regulator for Big Tech companies whose European headquarters are largely in Dublin, said it was fining TikTok 345 million euros and reprimanding the platform for the violations dating to the second half of 2020.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, in partnership with the Metropolis Cinema Association and in cooperation with the European Union Member States, has announced that the 28th European Film Festival in Lebanon will be held from September 25 to October 4, 2023.

The festival will open on Monday, September 25 with the Spanish film Ramona by Andrea Bagney, which won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2022 Rome Film Fest. 

The UK Office for Syria (UKOS) in partnership with The British Council have organized a joint art exhibition in Beirut. "Moments of Being", a multimedia art exhibition featuring the works of 12 talented Syrian artists, took place at the Matossian Gallery, Haigazian University, Beirut, from September 7th to September 15th.

"Moments of Being"

If ever there was an inspirational story about reaching for the stars, it's "A Million Miles Away," the real-life journey of a how a boy who grew up as a migrant farmworker became a NASA astronaut.

It starts in the corn fields of Michoacan, Mexico, as José Hernández looks up into the sky in wonder, and it ends two hours later with him 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.

The little black dress. The tweed dress suit. The perfume simply known as No. 5.

Those instantly-recognizable fashion classics — and many more lesser known creations by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel — are celebrated in a major new exhibition at London's V&A Museum dedicated to the life and work of the famed French designer.

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for her "Anti-Hero" music video on a night full of surprises.

"This is unbelievable. The fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me," Swift said in her acceptance speech. "I can't believe it was a year ago that I announced the 'Midnights' album."

On a waterfront promenade lined with pink flowers and facing Manhattan's majestic skyline, designer Michael Kors paid tribute to his late mother with a show honoring the travels the two enjoyed together.

As always, Kors was joined by a slew of celebrities at the picturesque venue along the East River in Brooklyn's Domino Park, under the Williamsburg Bridge. Actors Halle Berry, Blake Lively, Tiffany Haddish, Ellen Pompeo, Olivia Wilde, Jenna Dewan and many more were in attendance.