Noticias

The silent French film Au Bonheur Des Dames (1930 – aka Ladies’ Paradise) screens Saturday May 6th at 11am at The St. Louis Art Museum (Forest Park, 1 Fine Arts Dr, St. Louis, Mo). The film will be accompanied by Elsie Parker and The Poor People of Paris. Tickets for this event are $15 general admission and $10 for museum members. Tickets can be purchased in advance from Metrotix or by calling 314.534.1111.

Julien Duvivier’s final silent film is a modern retelling of Emile Zola’s panoramic chronicle of mid-19th-century Parisian society, centering on a small fabric shop struggling to survive in the shadow of a luxury department store. With expressionistic shades of Erich von Stroheim and G.W. Pabst, the film captures the rhythms of urban life and creates a stinging portrait of capitalist ruthlessness, class tensions, and sexual competition. Scott Foundas in the Village Voice calls the film “an orgy of pure cinema,...

Toast to Freedom also features contributions from Ewan McGregor, Kris Kristofferson, Carly Simon and Marianne Faithfull

The late Levon Helm, Ewan McGregor, Kris Kristofferson, Carly Simon, Marianne Faithfull, Jane Birkin, Rosanne Cash and 43 other acts feature on a new song released by Amnesty International.

Titled Toast to Freedom, the song celebrates Amnesty's 50th anniversary and is being released to mark World Press Freedom Day on Thursday. The initial recording was made at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, before producer Bob Clearmountain sent it to dozens of artists – also including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Donald Fagen, Eric Burdon and Taj Mahal – to add their vocals. It was written by Carl Carlton and Larry Campbell.

The idea for Toast to Freedom was conceived by Bill Shipsey, founder of the Art for Amnesty campaign, his colleague Jochen Wilms and Carlton, who has previously worked with Robert Palmer and Eric Burdon.

BRUSSELS -- The music industry will launch a new bid Tuesday to persuade the European Union to slash VAT on recorded music, as it uses the glitz of star players to make a political point. In recent days, Tom Jones, Sir Elton John and Julio Iglesias have joined some 1,150 artists putting their names to a petition appealing to ministers to cut the taxes, which range from 15% to 25% on CDs. Other high-profile names include Coldcut, Chris De Burgh, Zucchero, Axelle Red, Lords of Acid, Nana Mouskouri, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Johnny Hallyday and Barbara Hendricks, as well as European music sector lobbies the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and independent label group Impala. The campaign emphasizes the musical and geographical range of the signatories, from international to local artists and from classical and pop to techno and rap.