Riviera Reporter
Riviera Reporter
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE

Culture and Arts


Art, Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Theatre, TV, Radio and Media.


Cocteau by Modigliani

5 Jean Cocteau treasures on the Riviera

Margo Lestz | Oct 29, 2016
Jean Cocteau was truly a multi-talented artist. He considered himself a poet but he was also a novelist, playwright, film director, set designer, painter, and ceramicist – a true jack of all trades. Cocteau was born in 1889 near Paris and spent most…
Nick Danziger

Interview with Nick Danziger: From Monte Carlo into another world

Molly Brown | Sep 30, 2016
The charm of life on the French Riviera has always attracted writers, artists and photographers, but world famous photo-journalist, Nick Danziger, chose to make Monaco his home for much more practical reasons. He needed a home for the three orphaned…
Chris Savage art, 2015

Posing as a naked model for artist Chris Savage

Karen Hockney | Sep 08, 2016
Most of us know what we like when it comes to choosing a piece of art. But having a framed original work that is uniquely personal to you hanging in your home or office takes it one step further, especially when you have posed for it yourself. This…
Girl sitting on sofa watching TV, shocked

10 French TV series you have to watch in 2016

Katie Warren | Feb 11, 2016
France isn’t well known for its stellar TV, but a recent surge of great shows is making it worth your while to tune into some French channels. And remember that if you binge-watch these shows, you’re not being lazy and unproductive: you’re…
Riviera International Singers

Finding your voice on the Riviera by joining a local choir

Audrey Stuart | Aug 13, 2015
From classical music to jazz, barbershop, gospel and pop, any keen singers wanting to join a choir on the Riviera should find it easy to choose the right group for them and share their love of music. Most French villages in our region have their own…
Tempete a Nice by Jonathon Brown

Jonathon Brown's art at the Musée International d’Art Naïf in Nice

Riviera Reporter | Aug 01, 2015
At the Musée International d’Art Naïf in Nice, lurking in lush gardens on the hill behind the Radisson Hotel, the big free-hanging canvas painting Tempête à Nice (above) by local artist Jonathon Brown has become one of the public’s favourites. So…
Cannes Film Festival Papparazzi

Will the Coen brothers make the Cannes Film Festival different this year?

Dan Seeger | May 14, 2015
Speculating about how the Cannes Film Festival might be different this year, with Joel and Ethan Coen at the head of the feature films competition jury, is irresistible. For one thing, their very appointment to the task is historic: standing as the…
Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival and the French: “Je t’aime moi non plus”

Elodie Peyrano | May 12, 2015
AAH, May. In France, one of the most anticipated months of the year. For students, there are only a couple of weeks till summer break; for those working, it’s the month with the most bank holidays (five!); and for movie addicts it’s the Cannes Film…
Cannes Film Festival

Celebrating the Cannes Film Festival, 13-24 May 2015

Caren Trafford | Apr 17, 2015
Inaugurated in 1946, the Festival of Cannes is all about the celebration of film. Today, it is an important meeting point for the 12,000 or so “wheelers and dealers” of the film industry. More so a meeting place for the professionals than the…
Samain

Halloween 2014: Keep calm and have a Nice fright

Elodie Peyrano | Oct 28, 2014
Beware … despite the beautiful weather still lingering on the French Riviera, ghouls, witches, ghosts and zombies have not forgotten that Halloween is on its way and are preparing to gather and enjoy a great night of terror. Trick or Treating in…
Hyperia

Cannes connection for a big noise in the movie world

Nancy Heslin | Oct 27, 2014
Todd Warren’s lost eerie souls and airy wind in trees. The reason Torontonian Todd Warren packed his life in a suitcase and moved to France may not be unique – love (he met his French wife during an immersion stint in Montpellier) – but what he does…
Ed Holt Hurricane Run

Photography: Ed Holt, to sea through his lens

Mike Meade | Sep 28, 2014
Digital cameras have simplified many aspects of the photographer’s craft but the old adage rings as true as ever – by far the most important piece of photographic equipment remains the photographer himself. No camera, however sophisticated, can…
Santo Sospir

Jean Cocteau and Villa Santo Sospir: the artist who came to dinner and never left

Margo Lestz | Aug 21, 2014
What would you do if you invited someone to spend a week at your holiday home and he decided to redecorate it and then he decided to stay – indefinitely? Francine Weisweiller was thrilled. In 1950, when Francine met Jean Cocteau, she was a…
Miles Davis

French jazz fans outsmart Hitler

Margo Lestz | Jul 15, 2014
France has a special place in its heart for jazz and, in the summer, you’ll find jazz festivals all over the country. In fact, the world’s first international jazz festival was held in Nice in 1948. But France’s relationship with this music started…
Free Range Chickens

A real “chick flick”, farming film upsets locals

Riviera Reporter | May 30, 2014
The village of Loué is well-known for its free-range poultry but chicken breeders were in a flap when they learned about a “farmer’s daughter” movie being shot in their central France town. Realising that is was a porn film, residents quickly…
Mick Jagger by David Bailey

David Bailey’s “Stardust” exhibition comes to Arles

Pippa Jane Wielgos | May 06, 2014
“You have to keep looking until you see” - At 76, David Bailey’s Box of Pin-Ups is unveiled. A major exhibition of photographs by David Bailey will be shown at the 45th edition of Les Rencontres d’Arles, France’s largest photography festival (July 7…
Ballets de Monte-Carlo, "La Belle"

How Monte Carlo danced to fame with ballet

Molly Brown | Apr 27, 2014
Just the name, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, evokes memories of la belle époque in Monaco, when the crowned heads of Europe, American millionaires and great personalities of the day gathered there for the winter season; when champagne flowed and…
Lee Miller Self Portrait New York c1932

Lee Milller - Photographer

Pippa Jane Wieglos | Dec 20, 2013
Lee Miller, the American model, photographer and war correspondent, and her husband the art historian, Roland Penrose, were two of the many important international artists to visit Mougins and the South of France pre-war, who developed a life-time…
Revo Radio

Sounds from home, internet music and radio

Huw Williams | Nov 17, 2013
Nowadays, very few of us "spin a disc" or "chuck a cassette" in the tape deck. The music industry has been revolutionised, with the maturing of the internet and the development of digitised encoding. Digitised encoding enables songs to be re-encoded…
Jack Vettriano

Jack Vettriano - Part 2: “I’m not part of the art world.”

Pippa Jane Wieglos | Nov 11, 2013
The People’s Painter talks to Pippa Jane Wielgos about Nice, British art and his 20-year Retrospective. Whether you like or abhor his work, Jack Vettriano (neé Jack Hoggan), the Fife-born self-taught Scottish painter, is one of the UK’s most…
Jack Vettriano

Jack Vettriano - Part 1: An exclusive interview

Pippa Jane Wieglos | Nov 05, 2013
With Pippa Jane Wielgos, London Art Correspondent, 30 October 2013. PJW: Where did the name of “Heartbreak” come from? JV: In my early days as an artist, I thought it might be a good move to create a small range of greeting cards with my images on…
Old town view, photo by Jilly Bennett

Photography: That Tree and other things

Mike Meade | Jul 19, 2013
The best way to develop a photographer's “eye” is to look at photos every chance you get. Study the ones you like or wish you had taken so you have some idea what your personal photographic tastes are and what is technically possible (almost…
Golden Hours in Grasse by Catherine Macharia

Photography: The golden hours

Mike Meade | Jun 19, 2013
June 21st is summer solstice, the day of the year when dawn and dusk linger the longest, which makes it the best time to make use of the "golden hours".There are two golden hours every day of the year. The morning hour starts just before sunrise; the…
Cerise Doucede

Winners of HSBC photography prize at André Villers Photography Museum

Pippa Jane Wielgos | May 13, 2013
Musée de la Photographie André Villers, Mougins, hosts HSBC Prix pour la Photographie to show work by photographers, Cerise Doucède and Noémie Goudal. 29 June – 16 September 2013. Photography has been top of France's political culture for a number…
Girl watching TV on sofa, shocked

Satellite reception - The Reality of TV

Terry Sherlock of HAS Europe | May 06, 2013
“Watch BBC1, ITV, Channel Four and Five with our simple IPTV Box. Just plug into your router and get all these channels no dish required.” You will not be able to buy this new IPTV box from HasEurope.com. Company Director Terry Sherlock explains why…
Riviera International Singers

Riviera International Singers, “In quires and places where they sing”

Riviera Reporter | Apr 30, 2013
A couple of issues back we mentioned the Riviera International Singers which last December marked their 25th anniversary. Wolf Burg sent us some additional information which arrived too late to be used in our previous item about the choir (no:…
How to be a Photo Pap

Photography: How to be a Pap

Mike Meade | Apr 18, 2013
Festival season is fast approaching and with it an opportunity to create some lasting memories with unique, out of the ordinary shots with a little bit of effort. Access limitedThere’s more to the Festival than the stars. Look around you and go for…
Watching TV

Think outside the box with internet TV

Huw Williams | Mar 26, 2013
Internet in the home is changing the way we watch TV. Not only can we "time shift" to see our favourite show when we want, but now we can "place shift" and view it where we like. There has never been so much choice of viewing on the box, wherever…
App for Cannes Film Festival

Apps for the Cannes Film Festival and Monaco Grand Prix

Riviera Reporter | Mar 14, 2013
We’re heading for a busy couple of months on the Riviera with the Cannes Film Festival and Monaco Grand Prix just around the corner. There are apps for that. CLICK, CLICK, SMILE, SMILEThe official Cannes Film Festival app Screenings, events, red…
Satellite Dish

SKY TV in Europe, Changes to BBC, ITV, C4 & C5

Terry Sherlock of HAS Europe | Mar 11, 2013
Since the start of Sky TV in 1989 signals have always covered a large area of Europe and we have all been happy to view English T.V living outside the UK in our European Homes. BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five decided they would like to…
Picture This

Photography: Picture This

Mike Meade | Feb 15, 2013
A new practical column about photography on the Riviera When it comes to photographic opportunities, the Riviera is hard to beat. We have sea and mountains, town and country, narrow back streets and expansive hilltop panoramas. The light can vary…
Default Image

Media birthdays including 25 years of the Reporter

Riviera Reporter | Feb 01, 2013
The final months of last year saw some notable media anniversaries. BBC World Service (known earlier and successively as the Empire Service and the General Overseas Service) celebrated its 80th birthday. In its opening broadcast on December the 19th…
RADA

The play's the thing with RADA, the Riviera Amateur Dramatic Association

Riviera Reporter | Dec 28, 2012
Last time we looked at opportunities for singing here, specifically with the Riviera International Singers and Ensemble Vocal Syrinx. Some, though, prefer acting rather than warbling. For them there’s a well-established drama group the Riviera…
Photo Museum Mougins

The André Villers Photography Museum, Mougins

Pippa Jane Wielgos | Jun 01, 2012
Pippa Jane Wielgos visits the museum of photography in Mougins and interviews Oliver Lécine on the museum and its current policy. A first class fine art post-modern photographic museum, with a legacy that incorporates the historicism of European…
Laurent Puons

A Golden Nymph, something to brag about

Patrick Middleton | May 24, 2012
As final preparations are made for the 52nd edition of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Patrick Middleton talks to the new man in charge, Laurent Puons Laurent Puons, General Manager of Monaco Mediax, will oversee this year’s Monte-Carlo…
HasEuropeTV small

VPN : UK or US internet in France

Riviera Reporter | Mar 06, 2012
Virtual Private networking gives access to UK and US television and other media to expats everywhere. It really works! Here's how. Even for a well-integrated expat there are some things from “home” that are nice to have. One of them is television,…

Riviera Radio’s Rocky Road

Mike Meade | Jan 07, 2012
Not everyone agrees with the direction Morris Communications has taken Riviera Radio. Many residents would like a less flashy approach and a return to the community station it was until a decade ago. But whatever its chosen path in these trouble…
Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly: Inward and outward

Riviera Reporter | Oct 27, 2011
Date: 2011Just three years ago locals and visitors were crowding into the Grimaldi Forum to see an exhibition, conceived by Prince Albert and created by Frederic Mitterrand, entitled Les Années Grace Kelly. Intended to mark the 25th anniversary of…
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