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Front Row: Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil

13/12/2022

Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil

Director Kasi Lemmons on I Wanna Dance With Somebody, a Whitney Houston biopic.

Kasi Lemmons on I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the new Whitney Houston biopic. Hannah Khalil on Scheherazade's 1001 nights reimagined. The World Cup, art and architecture in Qatar.

Director Kasi Lemmons discusses her new film, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, a biopic of the performer Whitney Houston, whose unmatched vocal power saw her become one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She talks about exploring the darker sides of Whitney’s life and working with British actor Naomi Ackie who stars in the title role.

Hannah Khalil, writer-in-residence at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, tells Luke about her retelling of the classic 1001 Nights story cycle - Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, which reimagines Scheherazade's storytelling feat as a team writing effort.

Plus, in the final week of the World Cup in Qatar, we look at the new art and architecture in the country: the huge public art programme featuring the work of over 100 artists, including Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, and Olafur Eliasson, plus new galleries, museums, and stadiums. To discuss Qatar’s cultural ambitions, and the question of culture washing in the face of rights concerns, Luke is joined by Hannah McGivern of The Art Newspaper, and Rowan Moore, architecture critic at The Observer. 

Presenter:  Luke Jones
Producer:  Julian May

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Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody; Qatar art, architecture & the World Cup; Hannah Khalil

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