SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain: American actress Angelina Jolie said Sunday she no longer recognizes her country, voicing concern over threats to free expression while presenting her latest film at Spain’s San Sebastián film festival.
Her comments come as worries grow over free speech in the United States, after President Donald Trump’s crackdown on critical media and the recent suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show over comments on the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
“I love my country, but I don’t at this time recognize my country,” Jolie said when asked if she feared for freedom of speech in the United States.
“Anything, anywhere, that divides or, of course, limits personal expressions and freedoms and, from anyone, I think is very dangerous,” she added.
“These are very, very heavy times we’re all living in together.”
Jolie, 50, was in San Sebastian to promote “Couture,” directed by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, which is competing for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Shell.
She plays Maxine Walker, an American film director facing divorce and a serious illness while navigating Paris Fashion Week and embarking on a romance with a colleague, played by French actor Louis Garrel.
The Oscar-winning actress — honored in 1999 for her role in “Girl, Interrupted” — said she related personally to the struggles of her latest character.
Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 and later had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her high genetic risk of cancer, which claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother.
Visibly moved, she said she thought often of her mother while making the film.
“I wish she was able to speak more as openly as I have been, and have people respond as graciously as you have, and not feel as alone,” Jolie said.
“There’s something very particular to women’s cancers, because obviously it affects us, you know, how we feel as women,” she added.
‘I don’t recognize my country,’ says Angelina Jolie
https://arab.news/cq5dw
‘I don’t recognize my country,’ says Angelina Jolie
- The American actress was responding to a query on Trump's crackdown on critical media
- Jolie was in Spain to promote her latest film, “Couture, at the San Sebastián film festival
Makkah museum displays world’s largest Qur’an
MAKKAH: The Holy Qur’an Museum at the Hira Cultural District in Makkah is showcasing a monumental handwritten copy of the Holy Qur’an, recognized as the largest Qur’an of its kind in the world.
The manuscript measures 312 cm by 220 cm and comprises 700 pages, earning the museum recognition from Guinness World Records for displaying the world’s largest Qur’an, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The manuscript is a magnified reproduction of a historic Qur’an dating back to the 16th century, the SPA stated.
The original copy measures 45 cm by 30 cm, with the chapters written primarily in Thuluth script, while Surah Al-Fatiha was penned in Naskh, reflecting the refined artistic choices and calligraphic diversity of the era.
The Qur’an is a unique example of Arabic calligraphy, gilding and bookbinding, showcasing Islamic art through intricate decorations, sun-shaped motifs on the opening folio, and elaborately designed frontispiece and title pages that reflect a high level of artistic mastery.
The manuscript was endowed as a waqf in 1883. Its original version is currently preserved at the King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries, serving as a lasting testament to Muslims’ enduring reverence for the Qur’an and the richness of Islamic arts across the centuries.
