Andy Warhol was half a century ahead of his time. In 1968, the New York City artist predicted the current escalation of social media influencers when he wrote in an art brochure: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." The prolific pop artist was the inventor of our modern-day filters, when he started to take iconic images of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, and add his own colourful touch to them.
Warhol also happened to forecast our insatiable craving for reality television programmes, that idea of following someone famous around with a camera all day, watching them eat, sleep and exercise. In fact, he filmed his muse, New York "It girl" Edie Sedgwick doing just that – eating, sleeping, exercising and putting on make-up – in his 1965 film Poor Little Rich Girl.
At this year’s Festival International de Cinema Marseille, a comprehensive retrospective of Warhol’s collaboration with Sedgwick was on view, curated by David Schwartz, chief curator at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
The 29th edition of the festival ran from July 10 to 16, and featured Poor Little Rich Girl, along with other 16mm films by Warhol starring Sedgwick. FID Marseille's programme also included a retrospective of the work of French actress Isabelle Huppert, who gave a masterclass while in Marseille, and films by Albert Serra and Syrian artist Khaled Abdulwahed.
When The National caught up with Schwartz, he revealed the thinking behind the retrospective and why it was so pertinent to the moment. "I developed the idea with Jean-Pierre Rehm [executive officer of the festival]. We felt that because it focused on Warhol's greatest actress, it would provide an interesting contrast to the Isabelle Huppert retrospective," he says. "I also think Warhol's films are a great fit for FID, because they are unique blends of fiction and documentary that make us rethink our ideas about what cinema is."
Sedgwick was beautiful and had a very special sense of style – her signature chandelier earrings, pale skin and heavy eyebrows were her trademarks, and remain fashion inspirations for countless designers, as well as women around the world. She was also deeply fascinating, equally so when seen at home and around town, and seemed a bit broken, which made her all the more intriguing.
The best description of Sedgwick comes from Warhol himself, who wrote in his 1980s memoirs, Popism: The Warhol Sixties, that "Edie was incredible on camera – just the way she moved. And she never stopped moving for a second, even when she was sleeping, her hands were wide awake. She was all energy; she didn't know what to do with it when it came to living her life, but it was wonderful to film. The great stars are the ones who are doing something you can watch every second, even if it's just a movement inside their eye."
So was Sedgwick, through Warhol's films, the predecessor to the Kim Kardashian phenomenon? Was she the original celebrity who let viewers into her inner sanctum and showed common people the everyday goings-on of the more privileged? "Absolutely," answers Schwartz. "Warhol understood the power of the movie camera, to allow people to feel that they can become stars. Edie truly lived for the camera; she was transformed by it, and the camera loved her."
Sedgwick's candle burned bright and fast, which only adds to her mystique. After Warhol discovered her in 1965 at age 21 and made her his muse (his Marilyn, if you will), in about a dozen movies that they made together, he then wrote her out of the last film, Lupe. That's when the already fragile Sedgwick began a downward spiral that eventually ended in her death, ruled as undetermined accident/suicide, in 1971. The perfectly beautiful yet dysfunctional relationship between the artist and the socialite is documented in the films. As Schwartz explains, the movies "were made in 16mm, and truly feel like they are from a different era. They only gain in power over time, because they are made with technology that is no longer used."
This kind of cinema as art should be watched on the big screen, even if in our digital age, most of Warhol’s films are available on the web. The true genius of Warhol’s vision, which included many short-term collaborators like Sedgwick, was his simplicity. In fact, Schwartz points out that “from their description, Warhol’s films seem as though they are going to be very simple, perhaps even boring, but in fact, they are completely absorbing and fascinating and fun to watch”.
The retrospective showcased the comprehensive cinematic collaboration between Warhol and Sedgwick, as well as Charles Henry Ford's Poem Posters, a short film featuring Sedgwick as the life of the party, with Warhol at a star-studded gallery opening. They can be seen hobnobbing with the likes of William Burroughs, Jayne Mansfield and Jack Smith.
Finally, what would the retrospective curator wish for audiences to take away from these films? Schwartz perfectly sums up the value of this work and its place in today’s world when he answers: “I hope that they come away appreciating Warhol’s genius as a filmmaker, and the unique power of Edie Sedgwick’s personality, and the vitality she had before she died so young.”
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
%3Cp%3EElena%20Rybakina%20(Kazakhstan)%0D%3Cbr%3EOns%20Jabeur%20(Tunisia)%0D%3Cbr%3EMaria%20Sakkari%20(Greece)%0D%3Cbr%3EBarbora%20Krej%C4%8D%C3%ADkov%C3%A1%20(Czech%20Republic)%0D%3Cbr%3EBeatriz%20Haddad%20Maia%20(Brazil)%0D%3Cbr%3EJe%C4%BCena%20Ostapenko%20(Latvia)%0D%3Cbr%3ELiudmila%20Samsonova%0D%3Cbr%3EDaria%20Kasatkina%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EVeronika%20Kudermetova%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3ECaroline%20Garcia%20(France)%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EMagda%20Linette%20(Poland)%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3ESorana%20C%C3%AErstea%20(Romania)%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EAnastasia%20Potapova%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EAnhelina%20Kalinina%20(Ukraine)%E2%80%AF%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EJasmine%20Paolini%20(Italy)%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Navarro%20(USA)%E2%80%AF%0D%3Cbr%3ELesia%20Tsurenko%20(Ukraine)%0D%3Cbr%3ENaomi%20Osaka%20(Japan)%20-%20wildcard%0D%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Raducanu%20(Great%20Britain)%20-%20wildcard%3Cbr%3EAlexandra%20Eala%20(Philippines)%20-%20wildcard%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%3A%20Shredder's%20Revenge
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETribute%20Games%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dotemu%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20One%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports