She’s played the blushing bride in "Mamma Mia!" and the sidekick to the high-school bully in "Mean Girls". Now Amanda Seyfried takes on the role of Ann Lee, the 18th-century religious leader who founded the Shaker movement in the United States. Eve Jackson hears from Seyfried about the role at the Paris premiere of The Testament of Ann Lee. We also check in with ambassadors of Tuareg culture, Tinariwen, as they return with their 10th album and embark on a European tour. And, we hear from the team behind a powerful new animation telling the story of a child soldier travelling through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in "Allah Is Not Obliged".

Winners of a Grammy Award in 2011, Tinariwen are back with their 10th album, "Hoggar", marking a career that spans 45 years. The album is a return to their roots for these passionate defenders of nomadic culture and their people. Sonia Patricelli and Aurore Dupuis report.

As he takes on the presidency of PEN America, Dinaw Mengestu explains why defending a plurality of voices is crucial at a time of censorship and revisionism. He also discusses how the organisation is working to rebuild its credibility after criticism over its failure to condemn the war in Gaza in 2023. The award-winning author’s fourth novel, “Someone Like Us”, has just been published in France, and Mengestu tells us about the personal elements he has woven into this story of an Ethiopian-American grappling with his identity. We also discuss the immigrant experience in the United States and why notions of “us” and “them” remain such divisive forces in public debate.

Jessie Buckley takes the title role in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 21st-century retelling of a 1930s silent movie, and film critic Emma Jones explains why her performance alone is worth the ticket price. We also discuss some of the criticism the film has received for its feminist stance and assess Christian Bale’s turn as the lab-made monster. Actor-director Andrea di Stefano offers a very personal story in "Il Maestro", plunging us into the Italian tennis scene of the 1980s, with Pierfrancesco Favino as a troubled, charismatic coach. Meanwhile, Cherien Dabis’ sweeping epic "All That’s Left of You" sees the actor-director weaving her own family story into eight decades of Palestinian struggle. And Ryan Gosling pulls out all the stops in the blockbuster "Project Hail Mary", as he attempts to save the Earth and ends up befriending an alien ally.

Ben Croll and Dheepthika Laurent look at the all the winners – and losers – from the César awards ceremony in Paris, including Richard Linklater's "Nouvelle Vague" and the moving family drama "The Ties That Bind Us". Ben takes us through the highlights of the evening, including a lifetime achievement award for actor Jim Carrey and Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani's tribute to Iranian protesters.

In one of the biggest snubs of the night, Iranian director Jafar Panahi went home empty-handed for his Oscar-nominated film "It Was Just an Accident".

Finally, "No Other Choice" filmmaker Park Chan-Wook is the first South Korean director to be named president of the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

After four decades away from French stages, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is back in Paris – and making history once again. On arts24, Eve Jackson sits down with dancers Alexandra Hutchinson and Lindsey Donnell as they bring the company's groundbreaking legacy to the Palais des Congrès de Paris. Born in 1969 in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination, the company was founded on a belief: ballet belongs to everyone.

Watch more'Being a ballet dancer is years of hard work, but it's all worth it': Kadeem En Pointe

From powerful performances of "Firebird" to candid reflections on race, resilience and representation, the dancers talk about what it means to carry that mission in 2026.

They also discuss breaking barriers in an art form long shaped by Eurocentric ideals.

In this edition of our film show, critic Emma Jones talks to Eve Jackson about the latest film releases, including "The History of Sound" from director Oliver Hermanus. It stars Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor as two men who fall in love in the shadow of World War I. The film premiered in competition at Cannes to lukewarm reviews, but Emma argues its quiet, repressed portrayal of a gay relationship shaped by its era is exactly what gives it emotional force.

Comparisons to "Brokeback Mountain" have reignited debate about how rarely Hollywood tells nuanced love stories between men, and we hear from Mescal and Hermanus about why they were drawn to this tender tale of longing.

A very different kind of queer love story unfolds in "Pillion", the striking debut from Harry Lighton. Starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling – familiar to many from the Harry Potter films – the film explores a provocative yet unexpectedly tender BDSM relationship set in suburban South London.

We also review Bradley Cooper's latest drama "Is This Thing On?", about a man seeking redemption through stand-up comedy, as well as acclaimed Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck's "2+2=5", narrated by Damian Lewis.

Watch moreRaoul Peck documents the dystopian warnings from '1984'

Revisiting the writing of "1984" and Orwell's warnings about authoritarianism, the documentary asks whether the author's words, written nearly 80 years ago, feel more relevant than ever.

In this episode of arts24, we mark four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine with powerful films from the frontlines. The BAFTA-winning documentary "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" exposes how Russian schools have been used for propaganda, while Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov captures frontline courage in "2000 Meters to Andriivka", which follows soldiers during the 2023 counteroffensive.

Meanwhile, Irish rock band U2 has released a politically charged EP, "Days of Ash", featuring Ed Sheeran and Ukrainian soldier-musician Taras Topolia. One track, "Yours Eternally", directly addresses the ongoing war and is accompanied by a 4½-minute documentary showing the daily lives of frontline soldiers in Kharkiv, part of a full-length film due later this year.

In other arts news, American artist Titus Kaphar, best known for his 2020 Time magazine cover honouring George Floyd after his killing sparked global protests, is unveiling a new exhibition in Paris. "The Fire This Time", at the Gagosian gallery, examines the United States’ founding story and its legacy of race and slavery, offering a powerful reflection as the country nears 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.

Finally, the South African video game "Relooted" lets players reclaim African treasures held in Western museums through virtual heists, highlighting the ongoing debate around repatriating cultural objects looted during colonial rule. A 2018 report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron estimated that more than 90 percent of Africa's cultural heritage is held outside the continent, making this virtual reclamation both timely and politically resonant.