Entertainment News Roundup: Patti Smith and the Ukraine war intertwine in Ferrara's Berlinale doc; BAFTA Film Awards: Will lead nominee 'Oppenheimer' be the big winner? and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Patti Smith and the Ukraine war intertwine in Ferrara's Berlinale doc

Patti Smith's unmistakable voice reads out work by French avant-garde artist Antonin Artaud as on screen, the viewer follows a Ukrainian soldier through a point-of-view camera, appearing almost video game-like as he moves along a smoky field at dawn. In "Turn in the Wound," long-time filmmaker Abel Ferrara intertwines clips of U.S. singer-poet Smith's performances in Paris with the testimonies of ordinary Ukrainians about Russia's invasion and grainy videos taken mid-battle by unnamed fighters.

Wearing prosthetics for 'Different Man' was 'eye opening,' says star

Wearing facial prosthetics in public was key for Sebastian Stan, with superhero movie good looks, to get a better grasp of his character Edward's shifting identity in art house powerhouse A24's latest dark-yet-witty thriller "A Different Man." Edward - played by Stan - is offered a chance to take part in a drug trial to remove his facial disfigurement, only to fall into the chasm that opens when outward appearances change faster than someone's self-identity can keep pace with.

Cillian Murphy shoulders a society's shame in Berlinale opener

Hauling coals against a leaden sky, Cillian Murphy opened the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday with "Small Things Like These", in which the "Oppenheimer" star portrays a man sagging under the twin burdens of a traumatic childhood and an oppressive present. Set in Catholic Ireland in the 1980s and based on Claire Keegan's novel of the same name, the film casts Murphy as a coal merchant father consumed by guilt and indecision over whether to save a girl locked up in a "Magdalene laundry" run by nuns.

BAFTA Film Awards: Will lead nominee 'Oppenheimer' be the big winner?

Historical drama "Oppenheimer" leads nominations for the BAFTA Film Awards in London this weekend, but will the movie about the making of the atomic bomb during World War Two, which has already picked up prizes elsewhere, be the winner on the night? Directed by Briton Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer", one of last year's highest-earning movies, has 13 nods at Britain's top movie honours, followed by sex-charged gothic comedy "Poor Things" starring Emma Stone, with 11.

Berlin festival film finds love and loneliness in New York kitchen

Director Alonso Ruizpalacios dug deep into his past to make "La Cocina", a frenetic look at the lives, loves and chaos surrounding the migrants who work in a restaurant on New York City's Times Square. The Mexican-U.S. drama, one of 20 films competing for the festival's Golden Bear top prize, was, he said, designed to show the fate of migrants, who, far from reaching a promised land after long and perilous journeys, often continued to live in a state of suspension.

Family of Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson seeks conservatorship for him

Two longtime associates of Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson have petitioned a court, at his family's behest, to place him under a conservatorship, asserting the musician is unable to care for himself following his wife's death in January. The petition, filed on Wednesday in the probate division of Los Angeles County Superior Court, asks that Wilson's publicist-manager, Jean Sievers, and his business manager, LeeAnn Hard, be appointed "co-conservators of his person."

Paul McCartney's stolen Beatles bass guitar found after 51 years

A stolen Hofner bass guitar belonging to Paul McCartney and used to record The Beatles' first two albums has been found and returned after 51 years following a global hunt. The guitar, dubbed the "most iconic lost musical instrument of all time" by the team behind the search, The Lost Bass Project, was used in Beatles singles including 1963 hits "She Loves You" and "All My Loving."

Iranian directors say 'forbidden' to join Berlin premiere

Empty chairs marked the absence of Iranian directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha who should have presented "My Favourite Cake", a late-in-life romance of liberation from morality rules, at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday. "We are forbidden from joining you and watching a movie on the silver screen that is about love, about life, and also about freedom, a lost treasure in our country," the directors said in a statement read to journalists by lead actor Lily Farhadpour, who was able to attend the news conference alongside fellow star Esmail Mehrabi.

Star-studded 'Dune: Part Two' rolls into London for world premiere

The desert planet Arrakis came to London's Leicester Square on Thursday as the star-studded "Dune: Part Two", the second instalment of the sci-fi epic featuring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, rolled into town for the movie's world premiere. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve takes audiences back to Arrakis for his follow-up to 2021's "Dune", with Chalamet's lead character Paul Atreides joining forces with Zendaya's Chani and the Arrakis locals, called the Fremen, to seek revenge against those who killed his father.

Politics and glamour mark Berlin Film Festival's opening night

Even the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival's opening ceremony was not free of politics on Thursday evening as demonstrators and celebrities turned out in nearly equal measure in the centre of the German capital. The cast of the Irish historical drama "Small Things Like These," including the Oscar-nominated Cillian Murphy as well as Matt Damon in a producer role, were on the carpet, as were German stars Lars Eidinger, in competition film "Sterben," and Heike Makatsch, known for "Love Actually," among others.

(With inputs from agencies.)