World
‘The Kitchen’ Director Alonso Ruizpalacios at BAM: ‘We Need More Trojan Horses’
His masterclass started an hour late after Colombia’s FIFA World Cup clash with Switzerland went to penalties, leaving the opening-day crowd at the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM) visibly deflated over its eventual loss. Taking the stage before the subdued audience, Mexico’s Alonso Ruizpalacios acknowledged the collective disappointment by turning to Elizabeth Butcher’s poem One Art.
“I found refuge in it when Mexico lost, too. I’ll read it and see if it speaks to you the way it does to me,” he said, before reciting the poem in full, which begins:
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.”
“I’m not much of a soccer fan—I swear, I’m really not—but I’ve had to become one because of my sons’ obsession with the game. And I think one of the most valuable things they’ve learned through it is how to lose. How to lose with grace,” he went on.
“It strikes me as an incredibly important lesson, because losing is far more common than winning,” he said, adding: “I think that’s certainly true in filmmaking as well. For me, one of the greatest lessons has been learning how to lose: accepting that a film won’t always meet your expectations, that you won’t win a grant, that you’ll have to start over and try again. It’s about becoming resilient. I suppose that’s something you gradually acquire over the years.”
Speaking to Variety before his BAM Talk, presented by Mediapro, Ruizpalacios talked about his upcoming adaptation of Carlos Fuentes’ novel Aura for Netflix. “I’m approaching it not as a literal, page-by-page translation of the novel to the screen, but as a reinterpretation of it.”
On his adaptation of another novel, The Transmigration of Bodies by Mexican writer Yuri Herrera, which he deemed “one of the finest novelists writing today,” he said: “It’s set during an epidemic – a fictional one – but it inevitably brings COVID to mind, even though the novel was written before the pandemic, it turned out to be almost prophetic.”
“But it’s an epidemic of sadness—of something that’s never quite defined. Against that backdrop, the story unfolds as a kind of chilango noir—that is, a Mexico City noir. It’s deeply rooted in the atmosphere and character of Mexico City.” Presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market earlier this year, it already has five co-producing countries attached, he said, naming Spain, France and Chile among them.
Reflecting on his four movies, which BAM was honoring with a retrospective, starting with his career-launching “Güeros,” he mused on what he calls his ‘problem child’, the black & white “The Kitchen,” which was “challenging from start to finish.”
“Raising the financing was especially hard. It took many years. We’d finally get someone on board, and then the deal would fall through. Filming was difficult too, because coordinating actors from different parts of the world and bringing them together in one place was incredibly complicated. We had everyone together for a month before shooting began—we spent an entire month rehearsing. Making that happen was difficult, but it was something I really wanted: for the entire cast to rehearse together before filming.” Finding distribution in the U.S. was even more of a challenge, given its immigration theme, he added.
Speaking about co-production at his BAM Talk, he said: “I think it’s simply the reality of filmmaking today. Every time you watch a film now, the opening credits list co-producers for what feels like 10 minutes. It’s just the way things are – there’s no getting around it.
“There’s something fundamentally right about working that way. We’re no longer living in a time when public funding alone could finance an entire film. Those funds are becoming smaller and smaller, so you have to piece together financing from different sources. There’s also something deeply stimulating about that process. It’s the only way to survive if you’re making non-mainstream, non-hegemonic cinema. If a streaming platform isn’t paying for your film, this is the only viable path.”
“It’s also the only way to stand up to dominant commercial cinema, which, honestly, I think is at one of its lowest points. I genuinely believe Hollywood cinema has reached… a breaking point,” he said, lamenting the abundance of sequels, spin-offs, reboots and the like.
Asked what he thought about the thorny issue of AI and its creeping dominance, he said: “First, I genuinely love what I do. I love writing. That’s why I find this rush toward artificial intelligence unsettling. As a tool, it’s perfectly fine. But this wholesale embrace of it – the almost frenzied enthusiasm – strikes me as dangerous. It feels like we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“What AI doesn’t really account for is that the point isn’t only the result—the point is the process. That’s what the human experience is. The human experience lives in the process. I love sitting down to write. I love searching for exactly the right word, rewriting a sentence, opening a thesaurus, flipping through a dictionary of synonyms, and finally finding the precise word I’m looking for. That process gives me pleasure. So, this obsession with efficiency – with the bottom line – doesn’t interest me at all. I don’t think life is about saving time. Saving time for what? The whole point is to spend it doing what you love.”
He called for more independent cinema as “almost an act of resistance.”
“We can’t simply make films that only cinephiles will watch. I think we have a responsibility to engage audiences – to help re-educate them, in a sense. That’s incredibly important.”
“What we need are Trojan horses,” he pronounced. “I’m a great believer in the Trojan horse. By that I mean what Martin Scorsese has described about Hollywood directors of the 1940s and 1950s. Many of them were European filmmakers who came with genuine artistic training and a real artistic vocation, but they found themselves working within the entertainment industry. So they had to smuggle anti-establishment ideas, political thought and complex artistic content inside the framework of commercial entertainment.”
“I think we need to create more Trojan horses today—works that can exist within streaming platforms, for example. I even fantasize about making a film for TikTok someday: a movie you would watch in 15-second episodes that gradually builds into something larger. I don’t know exactly what that would look like, but I think there’s something worth exploring there, he said, adding: “I no longer think it’s enough to make contemplative films, however beautiful they may be. I love those films – they’re a refuge for me – but I think we also need to find new ways of reaching people where they already are.”
The 17th BAM edition runs over July 6-10.
US envoy: Stop funding UNRWA, back Board of Peace for Gaza
Speaking at the U.N. July 1, Ambassador Jeff Bartos said donors could continue supporting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee or choose a framework offering Gazans “peace, prosperity and real durable change.” (Credit: UNTV)
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The United Nations defended its appeal for countries to keep funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after the United States argued that donors should stop supporting an agency it claims has been infiltrated by Hamas and instead direct its money toward the Security Council-backed Board of Peace.
Speaking at UNRWA’s annual pledging conference in early July, U.S. Ambassador Jeff Bartos accused member states of repeating a failed approach and said the agency had become a “subsidiary of Hamas.”
“Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result is the definition of insanity,” Bartos said. “And yet, here we are again, another annual pledging conference for UNRWA. Same speeches … same condemnation of Israel, same failures to condemn Hamas.”
HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza, Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Bartos urged governments to stop funding UNRWA schools in Gaza, which he accused of indoctrinating children in hatred of Jews and glorifying terrorism. He also cited allegations that UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel.
“You can choose to fund incitement, terrorism and stagnation, or you can choose to fund the Board of Peace, giving Gazans a path to peace, prosperity and real, durable change,” Bartos said.
The Board of Peace is a U.S.-led body created under President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan to oversee transitional governance, reconstruction and long-term development alongside a Palestinian technocratic administration. The administration argues it offers a better alternative to UNRWA by shifting aid away from what it says is a Hamas-infiltrated system and toward accountable governance and economic recovery.
Asked by Fox News Digital why U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was asking countries to put additional money into UNRWA rather than support the Board of Peace, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric defended the agency’s record and mandate.
ISRAEL SLAMS UN REPORT AS ‘POLITICAL BLOOD LIBEL’ FOR ALLEGING DELIBERATE TARGETING OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
A Palestinian woman wears a green Hamas scarf attends a demonstration against a U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) funding gap, outside the UNRWA Gaza Headquarters in Gaza City, Aug. 16, 2015. (The Associated Press)
Dujarric said Wednesday that UNRWA officials, including former Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and acting chief Christian Saunders, had taken “strong action” when presented with facts concerning possible infiltration by people aligned with terrorist organizations.
“UNRWA doesn’t operate through a sort of immaculate conception,” Dujarric said in a press briefing. “It is there because there is a mandate given to it by the General Assembly, and we continue to fulfill that mandate. It has a very important role to play on the humanitarian front.”
Dujarric added that the Security Council resolution supporting the Board of Peace also calls on the United Nations to deliver humanitarian assistance and lead humanitarian activities in Gaza.
“UNRWA is part of that system,” he said.
The U.S. position contrasted sharply with those of several European governments.
At the same pledging event, the United Kingdom announced £23 million in support for UNRWA.
British Ambassador James Kariuki called the agency “indispensable” to providing essential services to Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
France also reiterated what its representative described as “full support” for the agency, saying UNRWA continues to provide indispensable assistance despite growing obstacles. France said it had provided €123 million to UNRWA since 2023 and would announce its 2026 contribution soon.
INTERNATIONAL ‘DEEP STATE’ PRIME TARGET OF TRUMP-STYLE CANDIDATE FOR UN CHIEF
A Palestinian man collects food from a humanitarian aid distribution point in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, July 20, 2025. (Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The French representative said allegations against UNRWA had been taken seriously and argued that the agency was implementing recommendations from the Colonna review intended to strengthen neutrality and transparency. France also supported an eventual, gradual transfer of UNRWA’s responsibilities to reform and strengthen Palestinian institutions as part of a broader political settlement.
The funding dispute comes as UN Watch is demanding that Guterres waive any immunity enjoyed by Lazzarini, whose term has ended, so national authorities can investigate allegations that he ignored repeated warnings about Hamas infiltration.
In a June 30 letter, the Geneva-based watchdog claimed that it had provided Lazzarini and his administration with evidence involving teachers, school principals, union leaders and other employees who allegedly supported or were affiliated with Hamas and other terrorist groups. It argued that the claims create grounds for an independent criminal investigation.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told Fox News Digital that his organization told Lazzarini “that there are supporters of terrorism — in some cases, actual members of Hamas — working as teachers, working as school principals,” Neuer said, “Not one bad apple, not a few rotten apples, but the problem of support for terrorism … was systematic.”
Neuer said waiving Lazzarini’s immunity would not amount to a finding of guilt but would allow prosecutors to test the evidence.
“The investigation may prove there’s no evidence, and it’s over,” Neuer said. “But at least you should waive immunity to allow an investigation. The U.N. said that if anyone was found involved, ‘we will cooperate.’ Now is the test.”
Asked whether Guterres would consider waiving Lazzarini’s immunity, Dujarric did not answer directly.
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Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), holds a press conference in Jerusalem on October 27, 2023. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“As far as I know, UN Watch is not a judicial authority,” he said. “We have always, as a matter of principle, cooperated with investigations by national authorities.”
UN Watch’s letter argues that immunity exists to protect the interests of the United Nations rather than provide a personal benefit to an official, and that it should be waived where it would obstruct justice without harming the organization.
Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA for comment but did not receive a response.
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The Spanish government has proposed a new EU common borrowing mechanism worth up to €850 billion per year, according to a document seen by Euronews.
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The pitch will be presented on Thursday in Brussels by Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo during a meeting of euro-area finance ministers.
Spain argues that liquidity is central to creating a common safe asset that would serve as a benchmark for European firms, reducing their financing costs. That in turn would have positive implications for the European Union’s competitive goals, such as more integrated capital markets and strengthening the role of the euro as an international currency.
The document also argues that there is a need to reduce fragmentation of debt issuance. Assuming the EU issued debt at German-level borrowing costs, Spain claims, a more centralised issuance mechanism could generate savings of around €5 billion a year, rising beyond €25 billion once issuance reaches €5 trillion.
Opposition to EU common borrowing is well-established in Brussels. Countries led by Germany and the Netherlands are staunchly against any taking on any form of further joint debt. On the other hand, countries such as France and Greece have publicly endorsed new common borrowing.
To chart a path forward, Spain is proposing the creation of a European Sovereign Facility. Participation would be voluntary; the European Commission centralising part of the member states’ funding programs, but participating countries would need to comply with EU fiscal rules.
Annual issuance would reach €850 billion if all 27 member states and the European Stability Mechanism and European Financial Stability Facility take part, allowing the EU to reach a stock of €5 trillion within five years.
If not all EU countries are willing to participate, Spain envisages creating a “coalition of the willing” as an initial stage.
“For the initiative to be meaningful, however, at least the five largest euro area issuers would need to participate, as they alone would enable an annual issuance volume of approximately €540–550 billion,” the document reads.
The guarantees for this mechanism would be twofold: the loan to the participating member states and the EU budget.
The bloc’s 27 members are currently discussing the 2028-2034 long-term budget, set to be agreed by the end of 2026, with intense debate over how the budget will be financed.
World
AP honors Breanna Stewart as one of the top women’s college players during the Top 25 poll era
NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press honored Breanna Stewart before the New York Liberty’s game Tuesday night for being one of the greatest women’s college basketball players during the Top 25 poll era.
The AP celebrated the 50th anniversary of the women’s basketball poll last season. As part of it, a 13-member panel voted for the greatest college players of the past five decades. Stewart and Cheryl Miller were selected as the top players over the past 50 years.
The UConn great won four straight national championships and was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four each time. She was presented with her trophy at center court by AP Global Sports Editor Josh Hoffner a few minutes before tipoff of the Liberty’s game against the Dallas Wings.
Miller accepted her trophy at the Final Four in Phoenix last April at the “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which was held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Stewart couldn’t make that ceremony.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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