Culture news · 15 October 2026
Busan Film Festival closes with Shu Qi best director, Zhang Lu best film
The 31st Busan International Film Festival closes with its first-ever official competition crowning Zhang Lu's 'Gloaming in Luomu' as best film and Shu Qi winning best director for 'Girl'.
Frieze London opens to the public with 172 galleries from 42 countries
Frieze London 2026 opens its doors to the public in Regent's Park, bringing together 172 galleries from 42 countries alongside Frieze Masters and a new curated section, The Code Universe.
David Bowie self-portrait with handprints goes under the hammer at Sotheby's
A rare 1996 David Bowie self-portrait pressed with the musician's own handprints is auctioned at Sotheby's London, expected to fetch up to £55,000.
World's oldest shipwreck surfaces off Turkey's Mediterranean coast
Turkish archaeologists announce the discovery of a 4,700-year-old wreck off Kekova Island, with more than 30 ceramic jars and three stone anchors on the seabed.
'The Pianist' stage musical world premieres in London
A new musical adaptation of Władysław Szpilman's memoir 'The Pianist' begins previews at London's Park Theatre, using the composer's own music on stage for the first time.
Elif Shafak unveils Flaubert reimagined through the women he erased
Turkish-British novelist Elif Shafak publishes 'In One Brief Moment All Eternity', a 608-page novel that retells Gustave Flaubert's life through the women who shaped him, including a forgotten Egyptian dancer.
Netflix drops Swedish storm-trapped dark comedy 'The Storm'
Netflix releases 'The Storm', a Swedish dark comedy in which a 45th-birthday dinner at a farm estate collapses into meltdown as a ferocious storm traps old friends together.
San Francisco Opera opens Massenet's 'Manon' with Edris and Pati
San Francisco Opera opens the 2026/27 season proper with Jules Massenet's tragic romance 'Manon', led by Egyptian-New Zealand soprano Amina Edris and Samoan tenor Pene Pati.
Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' opens in a new West End staging
A new West End staging of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' opens in London, relocating the Forest of Arden to a 1980s commune and headlined by a majority-female ensemble.
Paris Opera streams MacMillan's 'L'Histoire de Manon' live from Palais Garnier
The Paris Opera Ballet performs Kenneth MacMillan's 'L'Histoire de Manon' live from the Palais Garnier in a free global stream on 15 October.