By Philip Benton @pablobento  My experience of Norwegian film-making is limited to the “slow-tv” shows which made headlines around the world including a 7 hour train ride, a 134 hour ferry voyage and a knitting marathon which were phenomenally successful with Norwegian viewers. So my expectations were not high despite the film being selected by Norway as its entry for ‘Best Foreign Film’ at the 2013 Academy Awards. Directed by Iram Haq, ‘I Am Yours’ is reminiscent of her life...

Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @davidjdewinter  @TLE_Sport Friday night sees the start of the 2015 Six Nations tournament in Cardiff with a potential hum-dinger of a match between Wales and England.  That will set the tone for what will hopefully be five weeks of intense, brutal, physical but also entertaining rugby.  It is the most open tournament that I can remember and every team is in with a shout of winning the title (yes, even...

By Emma Silverthorn @HouseOf_Gazelle Daniel Ribeiro’s acutely observed coming of age tale The Way He Looks is a tender-hearted and convincing portrait of this classic genre, with the added twist that it’s also a coming out tale. Sao Paulo based Leonardo is an unusual teenager, only listening to classical music, avoiding parties and having just one very, close female friend. However, like most teenagers, Leonardo craves more independence than his parents are willing to give, his burgeoning desire for autonomy...

  By Audrey Sebatindira Cultures are different; this goes without saying. Some are more different than others. We may (rightly or wrongly) question or even condemn other cultures, but more often than not we celebrate our differences. Occasionally we go further and book a flight to a country totally different from our own. We dip our toes into new customs before returning home to rituals and social rules that have bound us from birth, and feel more like swaddling clothes...

For those looking for a taste of outsider art the unthemed festival VAULT is a standout in the London musical calendar. From January 28th to March 8th expect everything from subversive stand-up comedy, leftfield musical acts from around the world and, in one case a roadkill taxidermy cabaret show. It is here we find Scottish duo Pumajaw preparing to unveil their song-cycle, the deliciously dark Song Noir, to a London audience for the first time. This collection of Noir classics,...

Sport News 24/7 By Noy Shani  @TLE_Sport  @NoyShani The London Economic continues its countdown for the cricket World cup which will kick off in just two weeks time in Australia and New Zealand. Noy Shani spoke to Darren Talbot, Development Officer and Lions team manager for the England Cricket Association for the Deaf (ECAD), about the challenges England will be facing down under and his own challenges in promoting deaf cricket at home. Darren Talbot, 43, started playing cricket at...

By David Thomson I am going to take you back to around ten days before voting day for the Referendum on Scottish Independence. A poll by YouGov/Sunday Times taken between the 2nd and 5th September that showed for the first time that the Yes camp have a lead of two per cent. This panicked the so called “Westminster elite” that David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg missed PMQs to campaign in Scotland for Better Together. At the same time, former...

By Professor Christopher H. Bovis, Professor of International and European Business Law, University of Hull Inevitably, the question of UK membership of the European Union will be centred on two issues: The need for reform of EU institutions and the way the EU is governed The ability of the UK to influence EU decisions Reform is badly needed The European Union is malfunctioning. It has lost the zest of the “common market”,becoming instead a self-fulfilling prophesy of political union with disproportionally...

By Elsa Buchanan, International Politics Correspondent  In a bid to fight the recrudescence of radicalisation on its territory, the French government is launching its own “anti-propaganda” online platform under the hashtag #StopDjihadism. “Search for paradise and find hell: the jihadist propaganda wants to convince by describing a misleading " ideal world “. Recruiters deceive people by promising them a future, an ideal or a cause to defend, where they the only thing they will encounter is manipulation, barbarism and death,”...