Culture
North Circular rocks – Luke McManus on his acclaimed Dublin doc
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Luke McManus’s acclaimed feature documentary North Circular travels the length of the eponymous road exploring the history, music and streetscapes of the legendary artery that links some of Dublin’s most beloved and infamous places.
This journey is enriched with musical performances from local artists including John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O’Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch and Gemma Dunleavy.
Luke introduces North Circular below – watch it now via RTÉ Player.
Grangegorman was an obscure, unfashionable place when I moved to a house just off the North Circular Road 20 years ago.
On my first Saturday morning in the neighbourhood, a well-dressed, sober-looking man at the door told me that a plane was going to crash into the house. “It won’t happen for about two hours so you have a bit of time to get your stuff out”, he assured me.
As the designated time ticked closer, I felt a pang of anxiety. If I was about to die in a fireball of kerosene and fuselage wreckage, then my final reproachful thought would be “well, you were warned, and you did nothing…”.
That was my first encounter with the extraordinary gallery of characters that populate the North Circular Road.
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Listen: North Circular director Luke McManus talks to Ryan Tubridy
If you start at the Wellington Monument, which anchors the NCR at its Western end, and walk the five kilometres to the Five Lamps, you pass some of the most iconic and infamous places in Ireland.
From the sombre barracks of the Phoenix Park, past the old asylum of Grangegorman (dubbed Dottyville by Buck Mulligan in Ulysses), the road continues past Dalymount stadium, then between the hulking masses of Mountjoy Prison and the Mater Hospital, both institutional repositories of human suffering.
Once over Dorset Street, you pass Croke Park, the tenements of Sherrard Street and Charles St, the Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street and then the dockside fortresses of finance.
The idea of a documentary about the street had been knocking around in my head for many years, but lockdown gave it fresh momentum. Being restricted to 2km and then 5km of my home had an extraordinary effect. Walking and re-walking the familiar streets revealed hitherto unnoticed physical and textural details. I also realised that a walk along the North Circular is a trip through the entire social pyramid of the city: from the President to homeless beggars, and everyone in-between.
This is the journey that my film North Circular makes in eight chapters. There’s one for each neighbourhood, each with a different theme, as the road curves from park to dock, meeting soldiers, squatters, fire-starters, gypsy drummers, buskers, crazed football fans and addicts on the way.
There have been many creatively inspiring and richly detailed documentary films from Irish directors in recent years. But filmmakers like Pat Collins, Feargal Ward, Katrina Costello, Tadhg O’Sullivan and Keith Walsh generally seemed concerned with the narratives to be found within the rural Irish landscape or the streets of small country towns.
North Circular is concerned with the city and the layers that its back-alleys and street corners reveal. It’s also a sort of a history of Ireland, told without archive footage or yellowed photographs, which is why we chose black-and-white for our shooting format. The film begins with the imperial relics of the Park before taking in rebellion, institutionalisation, religious dominance, addiction, despair, immigration and the coming of strangers and, finally, the emancipation of women.
Did I mention that it’s a musical as well? That’s a whole other story…
North Circular screens on RTÉ One on Wednesday, August 6th – catch up afterwards via RTÉ Player
Culture
Giorgio Armani creations interplay with Italian masterpieces at new Milan exhibition
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“Giorgio Armani, Milano, for love’’ at the Brera Art Gallery opens today, mere weeks after the celebrated designer’s death at the age of 91.
Featuring 129 Armani looks from the 1980s through the present day, the exhibition places his creations among celebrated Italian masterpieces by such luminaries as Raphael and Caravaggio.
It is one of a series of Milan Fashion Week events that were planned before Armani’s death, to highlight his transformative influence on the world of fashion.
“From the start, Armani showed absolute rigor but also humility not common to great fashion figures,’’ said the gallery’s director Angelo Crespi. “He always said that he did not want to enter into close dialogue with great masterpieces, like Raphael, Mantegna, Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca.’’
Instead, the exhibition aims to create a symbiosis with the artworks, with the chosen looks reflecting the mood of each room without interrupting the flow of the museum experience – much the way Armani always intended his apparel to enhance and never overwhelm the individual.
A long blue asymmetrical skirt and bodysuit ensemble worn by Juliette Binoche at Cannes in 2016 neatly reflects the blue in Giovanni Bellini’s 1510 portrait “Madonna and Child”; a trio of underlit dresses glow on a wall opposite Raphael’s “The Marriage of the Virgin”; the famed soft-shouldered suit worn by Richard Gere in American Gigolo, arguably the garment that launched Armani to global fame, is set among detached frescoes by Donato Bramante. Every choice in the exhibition underscores the timelessness of Armani’s fashion.
Armani himself makes a cameo, on a t-shirt in the final room, opposite the Brera’s emblematic painting “Il Bacio” by Francesco Hayez.
“When I walk around, I think he would be super proud,’’ said Anoushka Borghesi, Armani’s global communications director.
Armani’s fashion house confirmed a series of events this week that Armani himself had planned to celebrate his 50th anniversary. They include the announcement of an initiative to support education for children in six Southeast Asian, African and South American countries. The project, in conjunction with the Catholic charity Caritas, is named “Mariu’,’’ an affectionate nickname for Armani’s mother.
In a final farewell, the last Giorgio Armani collection signed by the designer will be shown in the Brera Gallery on Sunday, among looks he personally chose to represent his 50-year legacy.
“Giorgio Armani – 50 Years” opened to the public today at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, Italy. The exhibition lasts until 11 January 2026.
Culture
The last day of doomsday: What is the viral ‘RaptureTok’ trend?
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If you’re reading this today, Wednesday 24 September 2025 could be the last day before the end of the world as you know it.
If you’re reading this tomorrow, you weren’t blipped out of existence and good luck with all the rebuilding. Please do better.
Confused? We’ve got you covered.
According to the more holy corners of TikTok, it has been prophesized that yesterday – or today, they couldn’t make their minds up on which one, so just go with it – is the day of the Rapture.
For the filthy heathens among you, that’s the long-awaited end-time event when Jesus Christ returns to Earth, resurrects all dead Christian disciples and brings all believers “to meet the Lord in the air.”
It wasn’t yesterday, clearly, so today’s the day… And turn off that R.E.M. song, this is serious.
This all stems from South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela, who claimed that the Rapture will occur on 23 or 24 September 2025. Mhlakela said that this knowledge came directly from a dream he had in 2018, in which Jesus appeared to him. Mhlakela reiterated all of this on 9 September in an interview with CettwinzTV and since then, the prophecy has become a viral sensation on TikTok.
Many individuals on the social media platform have taken this literally and very seriously, with more than 350,000 videos appearing under the hashtag #rapturenow – leading to the trend / popular subsection dubbed ‘RaptureTok’.
Some videos mock the prophecy, but you don’t have to scroll for too long to find those who are completely convinced that it’s happening today.
There’s advice on how to prepare; tips on what to remove from your house should certain objects contain “demonic energy”; and testimonies of people selling their possessions. One man, who goes by the name Tilahun on TikTok, shared a video last month, in which he said he was selling his car in preparation for the big day. “Car is gone just like the Brides of Christ will be in September,” he said.
One woman in North Carolina was live recording yesterday from the Blue Ridge Mountains, fervently keeping an eye on any holy activity in the sky. Another claimed that her 3-year-old started speaking in Hebrew, thereby confirming that it’s all legit.
Some more distressing videos include American evangelicals saying goodbye to their children for the last time… We won’t share those, as they’re actually quite depressing.
It’s hard to completely blame TikTok users for wanting the final curtain to drop, as things aren’t going too great down here on Earth. That being said, it’s worth noting that the Bible never actually mentions the Rapture; it’s a relatively recent doctrine that originates from the early 1800s, one which has gained traction among fundamentalist theologians – specifically in the US, where everything is fine, civil conversation is alive and well, no one’s worried, and they’re all enjoying their “God-given freedoms”.
So, if the Rapture does come to pass, we here at Euronews Culture will be eating a whole concrete mixer full of humble pie. If it doesn’t, see you tomorrow, and do spare a thought for those who are going to be very disappointed on Thursday 25 September.
And if extra-terrestrial beings followed Tara Rule’s advice (see below), thank you alien visitors for joining in on the fun. And if you could provide some much-needed guidance on how to do better, that would be grand.
Only a few more hours left to find out…
Culture
‘Dawson’s Creek’ reunion sees James Van Der Beek make surprise appearance amid cancer battle
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The cast of the hit TV show Dawson’s Creek, which ran from 1998 to 2003, came together earlier this week for a reunion charity event in New York City.
The cast, including Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson, took the stage at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Monday evening to read the 1998 pilot episode.
The evening was to raise money for F Cancer and James Van Der Beek, who played Dawson in the show. Van Der Beek, 48, was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer last year, and was unable to attend.
However, he shared that he had an understudy for the evening…
“I DO have an understudy. A ridiculously overqualified replacement who would have been #1 on my wishlist (had I ever dreamed he’d be available),” he wrote. “Someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me… Plus, he already knows how to get to the theater. So that’s convenient. The role of ‘Dawson,’ usually played by James Van Der Beek, will be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Can’t believe I just got to type that.”
Additionally, a visibly moved Van Der Beek did appear on screen via video message.
“I can’t believe I don’t get to hug my cast mates,” he said. “I want to stand on that stage and thank every single person in the theater for being here tonight. From the cast to the crew to everybody who’s doing anything and has been so generous, and especially every single last one of you – you are the best fans in the world.”
During the event, Van Der Beek’s wife Kimberly and the couple’s children joined the cast onstage to sing Paula Cole’s ‘I Don’t Want To Wait’, which served as the show’s theme song.
Another surprise during the event was when Steven Spielberg – Dawson’s hero throughout the series – appeared on screen. Check out the director’s message below:
Van Der Beek has undergone chemotherapy and has continued to engage publicly, advocating for cancer awareness and the importance of early detection. He has promoted new screening options and teamed up with Guardant Health to raise awareness about colorectal cancer screening for people under 50.
The video message during the reunion show has sparked concern after fans noticed that the actor appeared visibly thinner compared to earlier public appearances.
Messages of support flooded social media, with fans praising Van Der Beek’s resilience.
Elsewhere, Holmes and Jackson, who played Joey and Pacey respectively in Dawson’s Creek, are currently working together on a new project, Happy Hours.
According to Deadline, the forthcoming trilogy is “a story about two people (played by Holmes and Jackson) navigating their relationship within the challenges of careers and family responsibilities and the pursuit of love, despite life’s inevitable obstacles. It’s a character-driven dramedy that explores the emotional journey of young loves who reconnect as adults, with the connective thread of shared joys, loss, and hope.”
Holmes is directing, writing and starring in the movie – and the reunion between the two has sparked rumours about a possible romantic rekindling.
Holmes and Jackson met in the 90s. They were an item and appeared close during the reunion evening. However, multiple sources clarified that Homes and Jackson aren’t back together and enjoy a longlasting and continuing friendship.
Reflecting on the event, Holmes wrote on Instagram: “I will never find the words for what these three beautiful humans mean to me. For our shared journey. For our everlasting bond. James, Josh, Michelle… from April 1997 – I love you.”
He added: “James, you got this. We got you. To everyone who supported us from the beginning and who continue to support James and his beautiful family, we thank you. Thank you for last night.”
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