Actress Juliette Binoche, from right, director Kore-eda Hirokazu, and actress Catherine Deneuve pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Truth' and the opening gala at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)
By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
VENICE, Italy (AP) --
French actress Catherine Deneuve says the language barrier working with Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda caused some frustration but that she was happy in the end.
The 75-year-old stars in his latest film, "The Truth," which opened the 76th Venice International Film Festival Wednesday night.
Deneuve plays a French movie star whose tricky relationship with her grown daughter comes to a head after the publication of her memoir. Juliette Binoche plays the daughter.
"The Truth" is Kore-eda's first film shot outside of Japan and not in the Japanese language. Deneuve says the process of working through an interpreter to speak to the director was very unique and sometimes difficult.
"The Truth" is one of 21 films at the festival competing for the Golden Lion which will be announced on Sept. 7.
Rapper A$AP Rocky arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A$AP Rocky's longtime friend and collaborator testified at his Los Angeles trial Friday that the hip-hop star fired a starter pistol that he carried as a prop during a scuffle with a former friend on a Hollywood street in 2021.
The testimony from the man who goes by A$AP Twelvyy is essential to Rocky's defense against two felony charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a potential sentence of up to 24 years in prison with a conviction.
"He walked around with a prop, like a starter pistol," Twelvyy said, looking at the jury. "I seen it on several occasions."
And his testimony suggested the accuser, their mutual friend who goes by A$AP Relli, knew the pistol wasn't real when Rocky first pulled it out.
"He told him to shoot that fake-ass gun," Twelvyy said under questioning from the defense.
All three men and a fourth who was at the scene, A$AP Illz, were members of the A$AP Mob, a crew of musicians and other creators that formed at a New York high school nearly 20 years ago.
But just one of them, Rocky, became a major mainstream success starting in the early 2010s with a pair of No. 1 albums. He has since been nominated for three Grammys, but has become known as much for his dealings in fashion as his music, and for his relationship with singing superstar Rihanna, with whom he has two toddler sons.
She was not in court Friday. She made an appearance in the audience Thursday afternoon after an absence of several days.
Twelvyy, a rapper whose legal name is Jamel Phillips, has acted as an on-stage hype man for Rocky and has appeared in his music videos. He testified that Rocky had reason to fear for his life in the 2021 fight, since both of them were stabbed in a brawl at a New York club in... Read More