LOS ANGELES: Hollywood spoke with one voice at the Golden Globes on Sunday to declare war on the film industry’s culture of sexual harassment and abuse.
The industry’s elite turned the red carpet black for the Globes, the glitzy launch of Tinseltown’s awards season, in a fashionable repudiation of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein and others ensnared in allegations of misconduct.
Billed as the most raucous event in the showbiz calendar, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual prize-giving is a draw for filmmakers and actors looking to create some buzz ahead of the Oscars in March.
But this year’s ceremony, seen as the first big opportunity for the industry to unite and deliver a message about how Hollywood can move forward, struck a more serious tone.
“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have,” actress and media powerhouse Oprah Winfrey told the audience at the Beverly Hilton as she accepted a lifetime achievement award.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up,” she added, earning a standing ovation.
Actors and actresses turned out in black in solidarity with victims of Weinstein and numerous other figures exposed by the harassment and abuse scandal, including Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner and Dustin Hoffman.
And the overall message was a call for continued change.
“People are aware now of a power imbalance. It’s led to abuse in our industry. (...) It’s everywhere,” Meryl Streep, who is vying for a Globe for her work in media drama “The Post,” told E! network on the red carpet.
Fellow Oscar winner Viola Davis added: “It’s all of these women just embracing their authentic voices and standing in solidarity with each other.”
Seth Meyers, making his debut as Globes host, opened the show with joke after joke about Hollywood’s post-Weinstein reckoning.
“It’s 2018, marijuana is finally allowed and sexual harassment finally isn’t. It’s going to be a good year,” the late night NBC funnyman said.
“For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud.”
The ceremony at the Beverly Hilton is not as reliable at predicting Oscars glory as the galas held by Hollywood’s acting, producing and directing unions.
But it remains one of the most high-profile and glamorous events of the awards calendar and tends to generate more headlines for tipsy tributes and wacky one-liners.
Leading the pack this year is Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy romance “The Shape of Water” with seven nominations, while “The Post” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” went into the night tied for second, with six each.
Overall, 25 awards are given out — 14 for movies and 11 for TV — and, as usual, the 90-member HFPA has sprung more than a few surprises in the nominations, placing horror satire “Get Out” in the best comedy-musical category.
But there were no nominations at all for female filmmakers despite huge successes in 2017 for Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird“), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman“), Dee Rees (“Mudbound“), Kathryn Bigelow (“Detroit“) and Sofia Coppola (“The Beguiled“).
The first film award of the evening went to Sam Rockwell, who took home the best supporting actor in a film prize for crime drama “Three Billboards.”
He paid tribute to his “actor-friendly” director Martin McDonagh and co-star Frances McDormand, whom he described as “a force of nature.”
McDonagh also won for best screenplay. But Del Toro took the best director prize.
While many fields were wide open, James Franco (“The Disaster Artist“) was always a shoo-in to win best actor in a musical/comedy movie.
Franco — who also directed the film about Tommy Wiseau’s flop-turned-cult-hit “The Room” — gave a shoutout to his brother and co-star Dave, telling the gathered celebrities: “I love him more than anything. Thanks to my mother for giving him to me.”
On the small screen, HBO’s “Big Little Lies” scooped up a rare trio of acting awards for Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgard and Laura Dern.
“I hope we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them,” said Kidman, who was named best actress in a limited series for her role as an abused wife in the show.
Dern urged Hollywood to support survivors of abuse and to promote restorative justice.
“May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new north star,” she said.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” followed up its Emmys night glory, when it won four statuettes, by beating perennial awards juggernaut “Game of Thrones” to the Globe for best TV series.
Its star Elisabeth Moss also took home the prize for best actress in a drama, and thanked Margaret Atwood, who wrote the best-selling dystopian novel on which the Hulu series was based.
“Margaret Atwood, this is for you and the women who came before you and after you who were brave enough to speak out against intolerance and injustice and to fight for equality and freedom in this world,” Moss said.
Hollywood stars declare war on sexual misconduct at Globes
Hollywood stars declare war on sexual misconduct at Globes
Ministry of Culture-backed incubator helped Jeddah local create her first graphic novel
- ‘I feel seen,’ says Saudi storyteller Noura Alashwali
JEDDAH: Visual storyteller Noura Alashwali is one of a generation of Saudi artists whose personal journeys mirror the Kingdom’s cultural transformation, meaning their creative impulses are increasingly backed by public institutions and have an audience ready to listen.
“Creative expression was never just a hobby for me; it was a need,” Alashwali, 37, told Arab News. “From a young age, whether through writing or drawing, creativity felt like a part of who I was. And it still is.”
It was her education at Dar Al-Hekma University, where she obtained a degree in graphic design, that gave structure and language to an instinct she had carried since childhood.
“My earliest memory of drawing with pen and paper is when I was four years old, and I still have those drawings,” she said. Like many artists, she experimented with various mediums as she grew older. Eventually, she found her way to a Saudi art center that she described as “a very popular and wonderful place to learn art.”
At university, Alashwali’s work turned digital. “When I learned about the major, I immediately felt that I belonged. Graphic design is about visual communication. It’s not just about creating art, but about communicating ideas, thoughts, and stories.”
Those ideas would take on a personal weight in 2023 with “Deema and the Old Letters,” her debut graphic novel.
When an idea comes to me (now), I take it more seriously. I honor it and commit to it. I say, ‘Thank you for choosing me. I’m going do my best to manifest you.’
Noura Alashwali, Saudi storyteller
“It was a way for me to process my grief after my mother passed away in 2023,” Alashwali explained. “I was simply writing and drawing while processing very heavy emotions.”
What transformed that intimate archive into a published work was institutional support. In early 2024, Alashwali came across an open call from the Ministry of Culture’s Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission for its Authors’ Incubator program.
The inclusion of graphic novels and comics among the supported genres caught her attention. She assembled her materials into a PDF, applied, and was accepted.
For the six-month Riyadh-based program she was paired with a mentor, Dr. Hanan Al-Ghadi from Princess Nourah University, and supported logistically. By November 2024, she had signed with Rashm, a publishing house collaborating with the commission.
Beyond the mentorship and funding, the experience reshaped her sense of self.
“It felt like a dream. Because of institutional support from the Ministry of Culture, I feel validated. I feel seen,” she said. “It encouraged me to take my practice seriously — not just as self-expression, but as something that contributes to the Saudi cultural scene.”
Initiatives such as the incubator program do not merely teach skills; they signal that deeply personal stories of grief, love and memory have a place in the public cultural sphere.
While Alashwali hopes her work will be translated into English, publishing in Arabic for Saudi readers was the natural choice. “It’s great to contribute to the local scene with an Arabic graphic novel,” she said.
“Deema and the Old Letters” traces a young woman’s journey through pain and grief, using moonlit symbolism and visual poetry to explore art as a means of self-discovery and healing.
“I wanted it to feel intimate and personal. So ‘Deema’ is also designed like a journal,” Alashwali noted.
The protagonist’s depression is juxtaposed with the warmth of Jeddahwi landscapes.
“Jeddah is home. And when you are home, you’re being your most authentic self,” Alashwali said. “It’s a very kind and happy city; very welcoming and down-to-earth.”
The literature commission’s incubator also expanded Alashwali’s creative world, connecting her to artists from across the Kingdom, including Riyadh, Baha, and the Eastern Province.
“We have lots of beautiful cultures and stories in Saudi Arabia,” she said. “I have developed close friendships which contributed to my creative practice and personal growth.”
This sense of cross-regional exchange reflects a shift: Artists who once worked in silos are now being given room to meet, collaborate and be heard.
“What I enjoy most about being a storyteller in Saudi Arabia is that the scene is still fresh. People notice new work and genuinely connect with it,” Alashwali said. “It doesn’t feel overcrowded and overwhelming.”
Besides the literature commission, she has worked with the Visual Arts Commission and the Heritage Commission, including a workshop on creating eyeglass frames using Saudi craft techniques, created in collaboration with Italian gallery Moi Aussi and the Saudi Artisanal Company.
At Hayy Jameel in December, as part of the three-day “Soul of Palestine” program, Alashwali led a visual storytelling workshop where participants created digital illustrations to celebrate Palestinian heritage and culture.
Earlier in 2025, she participated in the Jeddah Book Fair and the Riyadh International Book Fair. In Jeddah, she worked with younger audiences on transforming emotions into short comics. In Riyadh, the focus shifted to books and artistic practice.
Across these settings, her metric for success remains emotional rather than technical. “It’s when I feel the participants have opened their hearts and try to transform their emotions into a comic, regardless of the drawing skills,” she explained.
Alashwali’s next project is inspired by conversations with her five-year-old daughter. “One day, after smelling a vanilla perfume she loves, she told me: ‘Mama, I think this is the smell of my heart.’ She believed it completely,” she said. “That idea stayed with me — the thought that the world might be kinder if we could smell hearts. So, the project will take the form of a directory of heart scents.”
Her plans for 2026 are modest. “I hope to dedicate more time and energy to my art,” she said. “If that doesn’t happen, publishing my next book will be enough.”
Underpinning it all is a philosophy she returns to — one espoused in one of her favorite books, “Big Magic,” in which Elizabeth Gilbert writes about ideas as living entities searching for someone to bring them into the world.
“As a Muslim, I believe these ideas are created by God,” said Alashwali. “When an idea comes to me now, I take it more seriously. I honor it and commit to it. I say, ‘Thank you for choosing me. I’m going do my best to manifest you.’”
