Culture

The Renaissance artist's name recently made headlines as claims of a secret deathbed trove of artworks and a rediscovered bust surfaced. But what do we actually know about his life?

The goal of many young parents in Germany is for both partners to be able to work, spend time with their children and share household responsibilities. In practice, however, patterns often persist that favor men in mixed-gender couples. Women are still significantly more likely to work part-time, while men are more frequently the primary earners. This imbalance is reflected in the latest gender pay gap data from Germany's Federal Statistical Office. The figures for 2025 show that the gap remains wide. German sociologist Jutta Allmendinger said the discrepancy was not for a lack of good intentions. Allmendinger is an honorary professor at Free University of Berlin and sits on several advisory bodies, including the German Ethics Council. She served as president of the WZB Berlin Social Sci...

A video trend is going viral among Dubai influencers. The reels show an expat enjoying a picturesque moment in the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while a caption appears, asking: "You live in Dubai, aren't you scared?" — referring to current regional geopolitical tensions amid the US-Israel war with Iran.   The caption that follows always offers the same answer: "No, because I know who protects us." The words appear on top of images of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, as well as his son, Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Minister of Defense of the United Arab Emirates. A melodramatic pop hit accompanies all those reels: "Papaoutai (Afro Soul)," an AI-generated cover of the original s...

When the trailer for "The Devil Wears Prada 2" came out in early February, fans of the Hollywood favorite immediately recognized the familiar faces — seemingly untouched by the passage of more than 20 years. But while the characters may look the same, their world has shifted, and it's the direction their lives are taking that's creating intrigue. Rather than revisiting the original story for the sake of nostalgia, the new film positions itself as a contemporary update. After all, the worlds of fashion and media are walking a very different runway than they were in 2006. Within 24 hours, the trailer had amassed more than 222 million views and climbed to fifth place on YouTube's trending charts. The message was clear: the world was ready for the return of Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel. ...

Berlin International Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle will remain head of the Berlinale, but must accept certain guidelines, as reported by German press following a crisis meeting held by the Berlin International Film Festival's supervisory board, the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (KBB) on Wednesday.   A "consultative forum" and the development of a code of conduct for all cultural events funded by the German state are being planned, Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer announced. Tuttle faced political backlash following pro-Palestinian speeches at the festival's awards ceremony on February 21. Among them, Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib accused Germany of accepting to be "partners of the genocide in Gaza by Israel" as he received an award for best...

It sounds like the plot of a screenplay, but it happened to two Berlin film students in real life.  Moritz Henneberg and Julius Drost had created an animated short film for their final project at university. "Butty" tells the tale of a household robot that gets kicked out when it can't do its job properly. When the two filmmakers posted the work on YouTube, this touching tale quickly went viral. After generating a huge amount of hits, the duo decided to submit their work to festivals — but they were in for a shock: Organizers told them the film had already been submitted under a different name.  How could that have happened? US student Samuel Felinton had downloaded the film, made minimal edits, given it a new title, "T-130," and got rid of the original credits. As the alleged autho...

An emergency meeting Thursday morning of the organization that manages the Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, has left the future of the festival's current head, Tricia Tuttle, open-ended, as the festival continues to reel from controversy related to the Israel-Hamas war.  The meeting had been called by State Minister for Culture Wolfram Weimer to discuss incidents at the recent Berlinale in which, among other things, artists expressed solidarity with Gaza and criticized festival and jury leadership for their approach to handling the conflict within the festival sphere.  Weimer's office issued the following statement after the meeting:  "This morning, a meeting of the supervisory board of the KBB GmbH [the Berlinale management organization] took place in the Chancellery. ...

Travel can sometimes place us in a moral dilemma. A sense of unease may arise from everyday realities — the carbon emissions caused by flying, for example, or the broader consequences of modern mass tourism. Is this simply something to accept? Should we simply stop traveling or are there better ways to do it? For Wolfgang Strasdas, the answer is clear: "I don't think we need to feel guilty at all," says the scientific director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism in Berlin, who has studied the impacts of travel for many years. In many parts of the world, tourism is a key economic sector and an important driver of prosperity. Even so, he argues that certain factors deserve careful consideration in advance, particularly the environmental footprint of a trip and the pressures associated wi...

Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer intends to dismiss Tricia Tuttle, head of the Berlin International Film Festival, German daily Bild reported on Wednesday, citing sources within the organization responsible for the Berlinale's management, the "Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH" (KBB).   Bild reportedly obtained the confirmation from the Culture Ministry that Weimer is calling an extraordinary meeting of the KBB on Thursday, but no official announcement as to Tuttle's dismissal has been made yet. According to Bild, Weimer and Tuttle agree that she could not remain at the helm of the renowned film festival, following the political backlash generated by speeches at the awards ceremony on February 22. Bild also mentions a picture that allegedly compromises Tuttle's...

It sounds like the plot of a screenplay, but it happened to two Berlin film students in real life.  Moritz Henneberg and Julius Drost had created an animated short film for their final project at university. "Butty" tells the tale of a household robot that gets kicked out when it can't do its job properly. When the two filmmakers posted the work on YouTube, this touching tale quickly went viral. After generating a huge amount of hits, the duo decided to submit their work to festivals — but they were in for a shock: Organizers told them the film had already been submitted under a different name.  How could that have happened? US student Samuel Felinton had downloaded the film, made minimal edits, given it a new title, "T-130," and got rid of the original credits. As the alleged autho...