Entertainment News Roundup: Mia Wasikowska brainwashes students in Cannes entry 'Club Zero'; Michelle Yeoh introduces mythological heroes in TV show 'American Born Chinese' and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Director of Cannes' first Sudanese film: I walk red carpet as people flee bullets

For Mohamed Kordofani, being at the Cannes Film Festival is bittersweet: He directed the first Sudanese film to be included in the festival's official selection as weeks of fighting in Sudan have driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes. "I feel immensely honoured and very happy that the film made it to Cannes, and it's such a great reward to all the crew and the cast, and myself included," he told Reuters on Monday.

'May December' director: women pay higher price than men for breaking rules

Todd Haynes' new romantic drama "May December" shines a critical spotlight on the way women who break society's rules are held to much stricter standards than badly behaving men. In the movie, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night, Julianne Moore plays a woman whose relationship with a 13-year-old boy drew national tabloid headlines.

Marvel, artist's estate ask for pre-trial wins in superhero copyright fight

Walt Disney Co's Marvel and the estate of artist Steve Ditko both asked a Manhattan federal judge on Friday to hand them a win without waiting for trial in their copyright dispute over rights to superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Marvel urged the court to reject the estate's effort to reclaim Ditko's interest in the characters, arguing he co-created them on the company's behalf. Ditko's estate argued that he developed his heroes and stories independently, and that Marvel intentionally avoided hiring him because of the "dire state of its business" at the time.

Striking Hollywood writers lament residuals slide

Writer Kyra Jones knew she would be taking a financial hit when she agreed to join the writers' room for the Hulu comedy series "Woke." The first payment she received for her share of the show's digital rentals was a mere $4, before taxes, barely enough to buy a latte. The streaming residual check amounted to one-third of the $12,000 Jones received in residuals for writing one episode of the ABC drama "Queens."

Mia Wasikowska brainwashes students in Cannes entry 'Club Zero'

Onetime Hollywood rising star Mia Wasikowska was at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday for the premiere of "Club Zero," which stars the Australian actor as a manipulative teacher and is director Jessica Hausner's second try at winning a Palme d'Or. "Club Zero" is Vienna-born Hausner's second film to be in the running for the film festival's top prize, after 2019's "Little Joe" that marked her English-language debut.

Finland's Kaurismaki back in Cannes competition after over a decade

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki is back in competition for the Cannes Film Festival's top prize after more than a decade with his 20th film, "Fallen Leaves," which premiered on Monday. Under a sweltering afternoon sun, Kaurismaki, 66, was joined on the red carpet by his lead actors Alma Poysti and Jussi Vatanen. Festival workers had to persuade Kaurismaki to pose for photographers as he attempted to power through the red carpet.

'Killers of Flower Moon' star says Native Americans need allies like Scorsese

Lily Gladstone, who grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and stars in Martin Scorsese's study of white society's treachery, said the director was a powerful ally in telling the world what communities like hers had always known. In the film "Killers of the Flower Moon", which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Gladstone plays Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation whose family members die under suspicious conditions in 1920s Oklahoma.

Sparks return with new 'provocative and challenging' album

U.S. pop-rock duo Sparks say they are still peaking creatively, putting out "provocative and challenging" music as they release their 26th studio album, "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte", this week. Some 50 years after Island Records released their breakthrough album "Kimono My House" in 1974, brothers Ron and Russell Mael have returned to the label for the new record, which includes a song about late actress Veronica Lake and another about an unimpressed newborn wanting to return to the womb.

Michelle Yeoh introduces mythological heroes in TV show 'American Born Chinese'

Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian actress to win an Oscar, is excited to introduce her friends, and the world, to a television show based on Chinese myths, “American Born Chinese.”

“We had these mythological well-known characters that I grew up with and this may be a nice way to introduce them to my friends here (from America) who might not have the knowledge yet,” said Yeoh, who portrays Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy in the show.

'Firebrand' puts spotlight on Henry VIII's sixth wife

For Brazilian director Karim Ainouz, the prospect of making a film about King Henry VIII's court was particularly exciting with its focus on Catherine Parr, the wife who survived Henry. Ainouz, who doesn't have a special connection to England, said his aim was to raise Parr into the spotlight.

(With inputs from agencies.)