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France

fiction (film)

Political thriller from real-life Egypt

Tarik Saleh: Boy from heaven

ARAB FILM DAYS: "Boy from Heaven" is first and foremost a well-composed suspense film, but at the same time gives an exciting insight into religious environments and political lines of conflict in today's Egypt.
Aleksander Huser -
literature

Heritage, artistry and staging

Lene Berg: From father

REALITY NOVEL: Lene Berg's project is a staging of the memory of a father shrouded in myth – but just as much of herself and her own identity. She was only nine years old when her father was arrested for the murder of her stepmother Evelyne.
Ellen Lande -
documentary

Painful stories from the colonies

Dorothee Myriam Kellow: In Mansourah You Separated Us

COLONIALISM: Dorothee M. Kellou's documentary is a painful dive into the hidden tales of Algeria's eight-year liberation struggle from the French colonial power.
Dieter Wieczorek -
literature

What does Michel Houellebecq want?

Michel Houellebecq: Serotonin

: The controversial author Michel Houellebecq recently released his first book in four years. Will the book give the French farmers the traction they need in the struggle for their livelihood?
Paal Frisvold -
COMMENT

Deadly, complicated and expensive nuclear waste

: In 2019, there are 17 tonnes of highly active nuclear waste that will be cleared and stored in Norwegian nature. It is a very complicated and environmentally hazardous work, which the authorities have been pushing ahead for years.
Kaisa Ytterhaug -
documentary

Is it a crime to save lives?

Michael Toesca: Libre (To the Four Winds)

: France sentences its own citizens to prison for assisting people in need. Europe is letting the ragged remains of its morals and ethics drown in the Mediterranean. Libre follows a man who counteracts.
Dieter Wieczorek -
literature

Foucault and the Iranian Revolution

Alain Brossat, Alain Naze: Interroger l'actualité avec Michel Foucault: Téhéran 1978 / Paris 2015

: It is far from Tehran 1978 to Paris, Copenhagen or Oslo 2018, but with Foucault's help we can perhaps understand a little more of the religious language of the Iranian revolution.
Mikkel Bolt -
literature

After the revolution

Thomas Carlyle: The French Revolution I and II

: Why are all the transitions of society earthquakes that strive for something better, but that end in something terrible?
Ole Robert Sunde -
literature

Foreign political shadow play

Laurent Larcher: Au nom de la France? Les non-dits de notre diplomacy

: Laurent Larcher calls for openness, value appreciation and debate on French foreign policy. The author claims that France's power elite hides its real agenda behind meaningless statements and secrecy.
Ketil Fred Hansen -
internationally

Hidden everyday racism in France

Tanya de Montaigne: L'assignation. Les Noirs' existing pass

: On a daily basis, we constantly sacrifice the uniqueness, identity and individuality of others on the altar of group affiliation, writes the French political scientist Tania de Montaigne in a new book.
Ketil Fred Hansen -
documentary

An ordinary day at the intelligence office

Eric Rochant: The Office

: The agency series Le Bureau takes place in a recognizable political reality, where knowledge is both power and a tradable commodity – in addition to focusing on the French intelligence service as a workplace. 
Aleksander Huser -
literature

Money and corpses in Sarkozy's wake 

Fabrice Arfi & Karl Laske: Avec les compliments you guide. Sarkozy-Gadhafi, the history secret

: The French journalists Arfi and Laske dig into the real causes of the bombing in Libya in 2011. 
Ketil Fred Hansen -
literature

Elite liberalism + mass nationalism = true

Jean Francois Bayart: L'impasse national-libérale. Globalization and repli identitaire

: For political scientist Jean François Bayart, globalization and the development of national identity are complementary processes.
Ketil Fred Hansen -
literature

The unpleasant truth

Marielle Debos: Living by the Gun in Chad

: Living by the Gun in Chad is a real find for those who want to understand the political complexity of sub-Saharan Africa.
Ketil Fred Hansen -
internationally

Headwind revolution

Emmanuel Macron: Revolution

: VG commentator Frithjof Jacobsen says in the book Project Prime Minister that "modern politics is not about educating the people and seeking support for ideological principles, but about seeking to understand what answers people want to hear"
Paal Frisvold -
Published only on the internet

A star is born – new French Emmanuel Macron

: He is young, handsome and eloquent. With his energy and charisma, Emmanuel Macron is France's John F. Kennedy. But does he have a policy? 
Paal Frisvold -
documentary

The passing of time 

: Mia Hansen-Løve's new cinema film The day tomorrow revolves around how political engagement changes over time, and joins the ranks of her films about family dynamics and relationships. Here we give an overview of her films.
Camilla Shams -
internationally

State of emergency: What is Holland's agenda?

: From being one of the world's foremost symbols of freedom, France as a nation has entered a gloomy part of its history, where the people suffer at the expense of bad governance and "suspicious" terrorist acts.
knut@foseide.com -
Published only on the internet

It's the 38. March, and the uprising continues

: In France, March 2016 will last for several hundred days, maybe several thousand. And perhaps Norway will be the next country to be hit by a similar wave of rebellion. 
nathaljiequintane@gmail.com -
literature

Will give France back the belief in itself

: The urge to "jump off" a runaway world must be replaced with the courage to take action in the future, says Pascal Lamy.  
Paal Frisvold -

Full 100-page MODERN TIMES including the appendix Orientering and Modern Times Review comes out quarterly in early March, June, September and December) with international book reviews (non-fiction) and comments / essays. According to the physical newspaper (and PDF), the articles are published regularly online (see the newsletters).

© MODERN TIMES & Orientering AS. PO Box 3113 Elisenberg, 0207 Oslo. Chief editor: Truls Lie

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