Category: 5. Entertainment

Iain Stirling, the comedian and narrator of  “Love Island” and “Love Island USA,” is shutting down rumors that he’s leaving the dating show competition.

Back in May, a TikTok account claiming to be Stirling announced his departure from the U.K. version to focus solely on “Love Island USA.” The post sent shockwaves among the fandom, since Stirling’s voice has become synonymous with the British dating show since its launch on ITV2 in June 2015.  

“I’m staying, OK,” Stirling told Variety over Zoom. “I love both of them so much. I’m going nowhere. It was a fake account that made a fake post.”

Stirling is well known to American audiences as the voice behind the Peacock mega-hit reality dating series “Love Island USA,” and has been narrating the islanders’ activities since joining for Season 4 in July 2022. While the cast and crew film in Fiji, Stirling records his quick and witty voiceovers from his in-home recording studio in London.

“Love Island USA” has experienced a significant increase in viewership after the immense popularity of Season 6. Currently in its seventh season, the show’s success has continued, with this season drawing more than 1.6 billion minutes watched the week of June 13-19, according to Luminate‘s streaming data.

When asked what makes this season different than last year, Stirling talked about the team dynamic among the current islanders. “Last year had legendary love islanders, and you never have that many excellent contestants on one series,” he said. “It was a weird fluke. This season is more of a team sport. Everyone’s just moving mad, and creating this beautiful synergy. This year, the show’s doing all the work, and last year, the individuals were.”

In an interview later in the day, “Love Island USA” host Ariana Madix said: “Going into this season, people would ask me what advice would I give for the islanders going into Season 7. My biggest thing was to not try to be anything like anyone in the past season, and I feel like they’ve lived up to that.” 

She continued: “What’s really beautiful about this show in general is that the audience can always suss out if they feel like someone’s being genuine and authentic. As the season gets closer to ending, people’s true colors will continue to come out, and the audience will have their say.” 

Here, Madix spoke with Variety about the dynamics of Season 7.

Some viewers feel like the islanders this season seem more cautious and strategic, given how huge last season was. What do you think of that?

I immediately felt that going into night one — they seemed more nervous and reserved. And I thought, “Is this a Gen Z thing? Am I witnessing the difference between being a millennial and being Gen Z right in front of my face? That they’re just more scared of being perceived?”  I don’t think it’s more about the audience or wanting to be a certain way because of cameras. I think it’s genuinely being nervous just to be open, because they have been perceived their whole lives online, and there’s a genuine fear sometimes of being called cringe. I wish people would take a tip from the older millennials, such as myself, that to be cringe is to be free.  As the season has progressed, you’re seeing a lot more of their inner cringe come out, and they feel a lot more relaxed.

As the show has grown in popularity, so has the toxicity in its fandom. Do you feel protective of the cast, given how much cyberbullying has gone hand in hand with the show’s increase in popularity?

I feel protective of them because I know — regardless of whether the audience likes them or not — every single one of them is in that villa doing their absolute best. Even if they make a wrong choice or they do something that people watching the show say they would never do, no one can ever know what it’s like until you’re in their shoes. I love our passionate fan base and engaging with a lot of the online discourse about the show, because the community is part of what makes the show so amazing. But if you are harassing, doxing and cyberbullying, that’s not a true fan of the show — because our fans wouldn’t do that. Those are people who I would rather they either don’t engage at all or find a way to engage in your group text.

The islanders delivered their best performances in the heart rate challenge, but some felt that certain boundaries had been crossed. What’s your take on Chelley Bissainthe‘s reaction to Huda Mustafa‘s performance with Ace Greene?

There’s a conversation that could be had with Ace as well, because he seemed very enthusiastic about Huda’s performance. But when I watched the whole episode, it was hard for me to pinpoint where they said that she went too far, because I felt that all of the islanders were participating to the fullest. We’ll have to see how that conversation pans out with Chelley and Huda. With Huda’s skills, I would feel some way, too, just because I can’t do that. 

Do you think Huda and Ace took it too far?

It’s hard to say. Moments before that, I saw people doing splits on people and three-way kisses. I saw a lot happening that makes it difficult for me to say, because I’m curious about what the line is.

Chelley expressed that she felt disrespected, and pointed out that Huda expected the same respect during challenges when she was coupled with Jeremiah Brown. From your perspective, how has this desire for sisterhood impacted the dynamics of the women and couples this season? 

I love sisterhood. I love it when girls support each other. Sometimes, this season, it has felt a little like they wanted to be a sisterhood before they got to know each other well enough to say that. It feels like that makes them scared to be honest with each other. Hopefully, this will be a moment of honesty between them. Although, I didn’t like when Huda was mad during those challenges. Now, I don’t like when anyone gets mad during the challenges. I support people not getting mad in challenges and going all out. It is interesting that [Huda’s] feelings have changed, although I wish her feelings would have changed back then.

Casa Amour just ended, and it looked different this year. What was the reason for the shakeup?

That shakeup was so necessary, because we’ve seen season after season girls go to Casa and not engage whatsoever, only to be loyal to people who are then not loyal in return. We also see people try to use their return from Casa as a way to garner goodwill with the audience. It’s happened where it’s been very genuine. However, we’ve also seen people try to use being loyal or doing a lot in Casa just to come back single to be with their partner. I don’t want to see people try to recreate things from the past because they think that that’s going to be their way to skate through to the finale. Making it so the islanders don’t know what to expect prevents anything like that. It was necessary because we also see some Casa people come in every year and not have any choice in anything that goes on. They come in for a few days, and then they’re gone. We don’t get to know them. We also see Casa people come in every season and be villainized entirely because they did exactly what Casa people are supposed to do.

This year, I love that we gave the Casa people agency over who they wanted to get to know. I loved the way that we made it so that everybody was going to recouple; nobody was singled out and couldn’t be villainized for the crime of just getting to know a new person. 

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Cinema veteran Naseeruddin Shah on Monday defended Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh amid backlash over Pakistani actor Hania Aamir’s role in “Sardaar Ji 3”, saying casting is not the actor-musician’s responsibility.

The row began last week after Dosanjh shared the trailer of “Sardaar Ji 3”, which made its debut in overseas territories on June 27 and skipped release in India.

Many social media users have called for a ban on Dosanjh, while trade unions like the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) and the Federation of Western lndia Cine Employees (FWICE) have criticised the Punjabi actor-musician for collaborating with Aamir in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Shah, who will feature alongside Dosanjh in filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s next film, shared a post on his official Facebook page, saying that he firmly stands with the actor on the issue.

The veteran actor, known for taking a stand on pertinent issues, said if someone has to be blamed for casting Aamir in the movie, then it should be the film’s director.
“I STAND FIRMLY WITH DILJIT. The dirty tricks deptt of the Jumla Party has been awaiting a chance to attack him. They think they’ve got it at last. He was not responsible for the casting of the film; the director was.

“But no one knows who he is, whereas Diljit is known the world over, and he agreed to the cast because his mind is not poisoned,” Shah wrote_. Sardaar Ji 3_ is helmed by Amar Hundal and also stars Neeru Bajwa. Shah further said he has close relatives and friends in Pakistan and no one can stop him from meeting them.

“What these goons want is to put an end to personal interaction between the people of India and Pakistan. I have close relatives and some dear friends there and no one can stop me from meeting them or sending them love whenever I feel like it. And my response to those who will say ‘Go to Pakistan’ is ‘GO TO KAILASA’,” he wrote.

Imtiaz Ali, who earlier directed Dosanjh in the critically-acclaimed 2024 movie Amar Singh Chamkila, came out in support of the actor at an event last week.
“Since I know Diljit, I can say that us mein deshbhakti ka jazbaa poora bhara hua hai (He is a patriot at heart). He is a son of the soil. You can see at all his concerts, he shows up with the Indian flag.

“He is not a guy who fakes things… No one asked him to do it. At the end of all his concerts, he says, “Main hoon Punjab”, with the Indian flag. I don’t know the details, but casting someone isn’t the decision of the actor. I don’t know how it went, but I know that uske andar desh prem bahut zyada hai (He loves his country too much),” Ali said.

In an interview with the BBC Asian Network last week, Dosanjh defended the decision to release Sardaar Ji 3 in overseas territories. He also said when he signed the movie, there was no trouble between India and Pakistan.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which claimed 26 lives. In retaliation, the Indian armed forces carried out strikes on nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, in an operation codenamed Operation Sindoor.

In the aftermath, social media accounts of many Pakistani actors, including Aamir, Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar, Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, were withheld in India.

Many trade organisations also reiterated their call for a ban on Pakistani artists in the Indian film industry.

‘Sitaare Zameen Par,’ starring Aamir Khan and Genelia D’Souza, has completed 11 days at the box office and, despite the release of new films, it is still maintaining a steady business at the box office. According to Sacnilk, the movie collected Rs. 3.75 crore on its second Monday (early estimates), taking it closer to the Rs. 130 crore mark.Sitaare Zameen Par Movie Review

‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ Box Office Update Day 11

After collecting almost Rs. 90 crore in its first week, the movie witnessed a significant growth in its second weekend. It minted over Rs. 30 crore, but then on the second Monday, i.e., day 11, there was a huge drop in the numbers. With a more than 70 percent drop, the movie collected Rs. 3.27 crore on its second Monday, taking the tally to Rs. 126.4 crore net in India across all languages.

Here’s how the film performed day-wise collection:

Day 1 (Friday): Rs 10.7 croreDay 2 (Saturday): Rs 20.2 croreDay 3 (Sunday): Rs 27.25 croreDay 4 (Monday): Rs 8.5 croreDay 5 (Tuesday): Rs 8.5 croreDay 6 (Wednesday): Rs 7.25 croreDay 7 (Thursday): Rs 6.5 crore

Week 1 Collection: Rs 88.9 crore

Day 8 (Friday): Rs 6.65 croreDay 9 (Saturday): Rs 12.6 croreDay 10 (Sunday): Rs 14.50 croreDay 11 (Monday): Rs 3.75 croreTotal: Rs 126.4 crore

Sitaare Zameen Par day 11 occupancy

The Aamir Khan starrer saw an overall occupancy of 14.36% in the Hindi language on Monday, June 30, 2025. The day began with moderate footfall, but the afternoon and evening shows saw a surge. Evening numbers were not bad as well, with a very slight dip in the percentage.Morning Shows: 10.69%Afternoon Shows: 14.08%Evening Shows: 16.76%Night Shows: 15.92%

Sitaare Zameen Par makes more than Maa on June 30, 2025

Kajol starrer ‘Maa’ made it to the box office on June 27, 2025. On Monday, i.e. its day 4 (June 30, 2025), the film collected only Rs 2.25 crore. ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, despite the major drop, outperformed the horror thriller.

Aamir Khan believes the audience should accept all kinds of films

With ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, Aamir Khan once again has brought the attention of the audience towards a very sensitive subject. He tugged at the hearts of the audience by presenting a story about kids with special needs. In an era where thrillers, high-octane dramas, and heist series are a rage, he brought something different to the table and believes that the audience should support all genres and different subjects with their heart open. “People love stories. All kinds of stories. If you only support action films, that’s all filmmakers will make. And then you will have to watch only action movies in theatres. If you like all types of films and want to watch all types of films, go to the theatres. Your support gives creators the freedom to tell diverse stories,” he said in an interview with Pinkvilla.He added that when audiences back unique stories, it gives the filmmaker the courage to bring stories that are closer to their hearts.

A girl views copies of hand-drawn posters of Chinese animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” at an exhibition held in Beijing, capital of China, April 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

After shattering virtually every box office record in Chinese film history, “Ne Zha 2” will conclude its theatrical run on the Chinese mainland by the end of Monday.

According to ticketing platform Maoyan, the animated phenomenon has grossed 15.44 billion yuan — or approximately 2.13 billion U.S. dollars — with 324 million admissions, making it the most-watched and highest-grossing film ever in China.

While the film’s domestic screenings draw to a close, its global rollout continues. Currently, its global box office sales total 15.91 billion yuan, or about 2.19 billion U.S. dollars, per Maoyan data.

The sequel to the 2019 hit “Ne Zha” has not only eclipsed its predecessor but also outperformed nearly every cinematic competitor — domestic or foreign — since its release on Jan. 29, during Chinese New Year.

“Ne Zha 2” now ranks among the five highest-grossing films of all time globally, along with “Avatar,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “Titanic.” And it is the top-grossing animated feature in history, surpassing the likes of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and Disney’s 2019 remake of “The Lion King.”

Combining mythological storytelling with cutting-edge animation and emotional nuance, “Ne Zha 2” has become a cultural phenomenon in China and, increasingly, abroad. In a recent investor update, production company Enlight Media said a newly produced English-dubbed version is expected to arrive in North American theaters this summer, and the film has already been screened in over 30 countries and regions — primarily in its original Chinese audio with localized subtitles — including more than a dozen in Europe.

A man walks past a screen showing a poster of the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 before a preview screening at the BFI IMAX theater in London, Britain, on March 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association, called the film “a milestone for Chinese animation,” saying that “it demonstrates the vitality of China’s creative industries, the enduring appeal of its cultural heritage, and the global potential of its storytelling.”

Indeed, what began as a retelling of a rebellious boy-god from Chinese mythology has blossomed into a contemporary saga that resonates across age groups and cultures. While rooted in ancient lore, the film explores modern themes such as destiny, social prejudice and identity, earning praise from both teenage fans seeking empowerment and older viewers drawn to its emotional catharsis.

“I believe that one day, new ideas, deeper meanings and new soul will emerge from the film, and the whole world will be able to appreciate it,” said director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi.

Technically, the film is a marvel, too. With nearly 2,000 special effects shots and the collaborative efforts of more than 130 animation studios, it draws a new high-water mark in Chinese animation.

At the 2025 Shanghai International Film Festival, Enlight Media chairman Wang Changtian estimated the film’s overseas box office would exceed 100 million U.S. dollars — a potential two-decade record for a Chinese film abroad.

Enlight Media has stated that merchandise related to “Ne Zha 2” now spans more than 30 categories and over 200 products, including blind boxes, plush toys, action figures, and more.

Girls take a selfie in front of a promotional display for the premiere of Chinese animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Luo Chen)

 
The film’s success has been a boon for China’s theatrical sector. Largely driven by “Ne Zha 2,” box office takings in the world’s second-largest film market during the 2025 Spring Festival period surged to an all-time high.

A cinema in Wangjing in Beijing’s Chaoyang District credited “Ne Zha 2” with generating 40 percent of its revenue over the past five months. “Without it, we might still be struggling to find our footing,” the theater, which opened in mid-January, said in a WeChat post on Sunday.

“Ne Zha 2” may have concluded its domestic run, but its international trajectory is continuing. A second wave of overseas distribution for the film’s English-language version is planned for the months ahead, though a specific release date has yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, anticipation is building up for a third installment in the movie series. In response to investor inquiries earlier this month, Enlight Media stated that “Ne Zha 3” will be held to even higher standards. “We will take great care to meet audience expectations,” the company said.

As China redefines its cultural presence on the world stage, “Ne Zha 2” stands as both a commercial juggernaut and a symbol of creative ambition. “It’s a miracle and a peak in Chinese cinema,” said Chen Xuguang, director of the Institute of Film, Television, and Theatre at Peking University. “A record that may remain unbroken for a long time.” 

Ryan Gosling puts the “not” in “Astronaut” in the new trailer for “Project Hail Mary.”

The upcoming sci-fi film, based on Andy Weir‘s novel of the same name, stars Gosling as middle school teacher turned reluctant astronaut Ryland Grace, who’s tasked with saving humanity from the effects of a dimming sun. However, when he wakes up from a coma as the sole survivor aboard a spaceship, he must overcome his amnesia to remember where he is and why he was sent there.

“It’s an insanely ambitious story that’s massive in scope and it seemed really hard to make, and that’s kind of our bag,” Gosling said of “Project Hail Mary” at CinemaCon in April, where he debuted footage from the film, according to Variety. “This is why we go to the movies. And I’m not just saying it because I’m in it. I’m also saying it because I’m a producer on the film.”

The trailer, released Monday by Amazon MGM Studios, opens with Gosling startling awake on the spacecraft, his hair and beard uncharacteristically long. “I’m several light-years from my apartment,” he proclaims, “and I’m not an astronaut.”

It then jolts back in time to show Grace pre-launch as he learns from Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) that if he does not journey into space, everything on Earth will go extinct. According to Stratt, who heads the mission, Grace is the only scientist who might understand what is happening to the sun and surrounding stars.

The trailer, which progresses through an intense montage set to Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times,” teases Gosling’s signature humor. “I can’t even moonwalk!” the “Barbie” actor declares at one point. (Gosling portrayed moonwalker Neil Armstrong in another recent space movie, Damien Chazelle’s “First Man.”)

Everything leads up to Grace meeting an alien, who isn’t shown in full — but fans of the book know it plays an integral role in saving planet Earth and beyond.

The film, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, marks the second book-to-movie adaptation for Weir, whose novel “The Martian” became an Oscar-nominated 2015 blockbuster starring Matt Damon. An adaptation for his book “Artemis” is also in development with the same directing team.

“Project Hail Mary” hits theaters March 20.

Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s return to the big screen after a three-year hiatus has been far from ordinary. Sitaare Zameen Par (2025) which translates to “stars on Earth”, is the first major Bollywood production to feature a mostly neurodivergent cast.

A remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones, the story follows a mouthy, knuckle-headed basketball coach, Gulshan (Aamir Khan), who is put in charge of a team of players with intellectual disabilities.

The film slowly grows into itself, much like its characters, but ultimately delivers what the trailer promises: a heartwarming, humorous and uplifting celebration of our individual differences.

In an era of blockbuster spectacles, Aamir Khan Productions brings back a kind of Bollywood storytelling we haven’t seen in a while – something sincere, gentle and quietly revolutionary.

Who is Aamir Khan?

Aamir Khan was born in Mumbai in 1965, and started his acting career as a child actor in his uncle’s film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).

Khan is now one of Bollywood’s most enduring and respected figures. He is one of the iconic “three Khans”, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan (the three are unrelated), who have dominated Indian cinema since the 1990s.

But unlike his Khan counterparts, Aamir Khan has carved a unique career path built on both commercial success and socially-driven storytelling.

He is known for championing social causes through cinema. In one 2015 article, media studies professor Vamsee Juluri referred to him as a “national conscience figure”.

Khan’s films don’t just entertain; they challenge norms and often spark national conversations on important issues.

From producing Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), India’s Oscar-nominated colonial-era sports epic, to his directorial debut Taare Zameen Par (2007), a moving portrait of a child with dyslexia, Khan’s work often brings underrepresented stories to the mainstream.

His film PK (2014) challenges religious dogma. Meanwhile, Dangal (2016) is a boundary-pushing film based on real-life female wrestlers from rural India, and is also Bollywood’s highest-grossing film of all time.

Beyond the box office, Khan has hosted the TV show Satyamev Jayate (2012–14), which is also the national emblem of India, meaning “truth alone triumphs”.

This show tackles various topics considered taboo in Indian societies, including female feticide, domestic violence and caste discrimination. It has reached millions of households, and even ignited parliamentary debates.

Khan is also popular in other countries, including China, where his films 3 Idiots (2009), Dangal (2016) and Secret Superstar (2017) were massive hits that resonated with audiences for their universal themes.

Sitaare Zameen Par marks his return following the commercial underperformance of Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), an Indian remake of Forrest Gump (1994).

Sitaare (stars) who make the film shine

Directed by R.S. Prasanna, Sitaare Zameen Par enjoyed a strong opening weekend at the box office.

It stars ten individuals with special needs as they prepare for a basketball tournament under the direction of their coach (Khan). This plot alone makes the film a significant entry to Indian cinema, which often ignores or misrepresents disability.

Despite early online trolling and negativity, the film depicts its neurodivergent characters not as victims, or “inspirations”, but simply as people with dreams, struggles and joy.

One line captures this beautifully: “Everyone sticks to their own normal. We each have our own normal.”

Aamir Khan, now 60, plays a key role in the film, but doesn’t dominate it. Instead, his younger co-stars shine. The result is a healing film that celebrates inclusion, while being full of joy and humanity.

Stories that matter

No film is perfect. But it’s hard to dislike a film made with so much compassion.

Bollywood as an industry has increasingly leaned into action-packed blockbusters, as well as nationalist and Hindu-centred narratives (such as in the 2022 film Brahmāstra).

While many of these offer thrills, few deliver the kind of emotional and social depth that once defined Hindi cinema’s global appeal. Much like Taare Zameen Par – a spiritual prequel to the new release – did 18 years ago, Sitaare Zameen Par invites the audience to slow down and reflect.

It prompts neurotypical viewers to see people with Down’s syndrome as part of the same emotional universe as them – and to laugh with, not at them.

In an interview, Khan explains how the film goes further than just neurodivergent representation, to participation:

In [Taare Zameen Par], it’s the teacher, Nikumbh, a supposedly neuro-typical person, who helps the child with dyslexia. In this film, ten neuro-atypical people are helping the coach, Gulshan. I feel Sitare takes the discourse of the first film ten steps ahead, especially in our country where people need to be sensitised to the topic of neurodivergence.

Last week, India’s president, Droupadi Murmu, attended a special screening and met the cast. The visit sent a clear messsage: stories like this matter.

With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan returns to what he does best: using film as both a mirror and message for Indian society. While it won’t change the world overnight, it will make viewers see the world, and each other, a little differently.

Santiago Yahuarcani’s Amazon is no longer the place he painted as a child. The rainforest scenes of parrots, anacondas and jaguars that he and his brothers used to sell to riverboat tourists for a dollar apiece have given way to visions of a landscape that is darker, more despoiled and more desperate than it was six decades ago.

However, as his first solo international exhibition – at the Whitworth in Manchester – will show, the old beauties and mysteries have not faded completely. His work is populated by shape-shifting spirits, mermaids waltzing with pink river dolphins, enormous pipe-smoking lizards and shamans who trap their adversaries in rum bottles, but they exist alongside depictions of the genocidal crimes of the past and the ecocidal crimes of the present. Oil refineries are consumed by fire, rubber trees weep tears of sap, forest spirits are displaced by drought, and memories of a century-old slaughter – replete with torn and branded flesh – echo through the forest and down the generations.

“When I was a child, there was a huge abundance of animals and fish in the Amazon,” says the 65-year-old Indigenous Peruvian painter, when we meet in Madrid, at a joint exhibition of work by him and his partner Nereyda López. “There was a lot of land to make into farmsteads and there were a lot of animals to hunt. But people have come and taken land – hectares of land, kilometres of land – and they’ve come for the wood and the gold, too.”

The artist and his family are all too aware of what happens when the Amazon attracts the greedy gaze of the outside world. Today, they are the last 12 members of the White Heron clan of the Uitoto nation still living in Peru. Just over a century ago, Yahuarcani’s grandfather, then 16, was forced from Colombia to Peru during the genocide that was waged against the Indigenous population of the Putumayo region during the rubber boom. The painter was five or six when he learned what had happened at La Chorrera rubber station.

“My grandfather would call us together at night and tell us about the era of rubber,” he says. “He told us how the bosses arrived with rifles and started to force the Indigenous people to collect the sap of trees for rubber. They demanded 50kg of sap from each person every two to three weeks. They gave them the materials they needed to get the sap and they gave them food, but not enough food.”

Anyone coming back with less than 50kg was punished. Some were thrown into a hole​ 15 metres deep. Others had an ear hacked off. “There was also a guy, my grandfather told me, who’d make everyone watch​ as he cut off a lump of your fles​h with a knife. They wanted to scare people so they’d get their 50 kilos.”

Then came the time when the bosses decided to plant sugar cane, coffee and corn for the women to harvest. “These women worked with their babies on their backs,” says Yahuarcani. “One baby started to cry because of the heat of the sun. The overseers came and took the little boy from his mother’s back and threw him on the fire.​”

When the inevitable uprising took place, the response was characteristically barbaric. Men, women and children were burned alive in a large house where they had sought refuge. Those who escaped the flames were shot. “My grandfather told me that, a month after the fire, thousands of butterflies of a kind never before seen in the Amazon began to sprout from the site,” says Yahuacari. “All different kinds of butterflies with all different kinds of colours. My grandfather told me they were the spirits of the victims, of the people who had been burned.”

Those atrocities are recounted in one painting – called The Stone-Hearted Man – that shows gangs of pale men in white hats and with pistols in their belts branding, decapitating and burning their way across a stretch of rainforest that has become a hell. All around them are the charred and broken bodies of Indigenous people.

A century later, the rainforest is once again besieged. “Today, Indigenous groups are having to fight back,” says Yahuarcani. “We have to fight to protect our vegetation, our trees and to reforest.” But the odds are not in their favour. While more and more outsiders are coming to the Amazon in search of land, timber, gold and oil, many of the region’s young people are abandoning their homes in search of education and employment. Respect for the rainforest is dwindling.

Whenever they set out to hunt or fish, the Uitoto make an offering to the guardian of the forest animals: “He’s small and furry like a monkey and has the face of an 80-year-old person.” And, unlike the logging and mining corporations, they never take more than they need. “In the Amazon,” he says, “when we want to eat, we go to our supermarket – it’s in the mountains, in the jungle, where there are fish and fruits. You bring home what you need and you don’t destroy everything. God has said that man should not destroy nature, he should take care of it, because it is his home, too. You can’t destroy your own house.”

If the artist’s subject matter has changed over the years, his techniques have not. Yahuarcani has always created his works by applying paint prepared from pigments, seeds, leaves and roots, to large sheets of llanchama, a cloth made from the bark of the ojé tree. His works are often inspired by the hallucinations brought on by the ritual ingestion of tobacco, coca, ayahuasca and mushrooms – substances long used by the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon when in search of help, knowledge or revelation.

While getting llanchama requires the skills he learned from his bark-cutter grandfather, the use of hallucinogens harnesses and honours the cosmology, myths and traditions of Yahuarcani’s people as he strives to draw attention to the threats they and the forest face. Perhaps the greatest of those menaces is indifference. Yahuarcani’s home town of Pebas, which lies on a bend in the river as it meanders from north-east Peru towards Colombia, is as far removed as it could be from the artistic, political and media centres of the coastal capital, Lima. As a result, getting his work and its messages noticed has been a struggle.

Yahuarcani is polite but insistent as he reflects on the difficulties that he and other Indigenous artists – not least his son Rember – experience when it comes to visibility and exhibition space. “I use my work to show our myths,” he says. “How our culture used to be, how we came to have the problems we now have. But it’s been very tough because we were from the Amazon and we were Indigenous. We weren’t allowed to exhibit in the museums, or do the interviews, because we were always put to one side.” Artists from Lima “have always had more opportunities and more press”.

Part of the problem, he says, lies in Peru’s own view of its culture and history. “When we were in school, we were taught about the Incas. About how the Incas built Machu Picchu, and so on. But there was nothing about us or our history, and that’s been one of our complaints. Our stories aren’t in the textbooks.” Yet he is adamant that this is a history people need – and want – to know about. When he exhibited a picture of the Putumayo atrocities in Lima ​a decade ago, “the newspapers and the magazines were saying, ‘Look at this! Look at this!’ But the authorities were not at all interested.”

Yahuarcani has been buoyed by the enthusiastic reaction to the Madrid show – even if it has meant braving the heat and chaos of the Spanish summer. He hopes the Manchester exhibition will be equally well received. But the recognition has been as hard won as it has been belated. Time is running out and, as one of his recent works plainly shows, the Amazon is changing rapidly and irrevocably. Painted earlier this year, Optic Fibre in the Depths of the Amazon River is a riotous, funny and faintly disturbing picture that shows dolphins, frogs, fish and turtles clutching mobile phones as technology reaches ever farther into the rainforest. One or two of the smarter fish are ringing their friends to let them know where the fishers are gathered so they can avoid them.

The current cycle of expansion, encroachment and exploitation appears unstoppable. And if the forest goes then so does a branch of the Uitoto, their way of life, and their half-forgotten history. “I hope Peru will do something about these issues,” says Yahuarcani. “That there will be a book of these stories so young people can learn what happened to their grandparents. Today, we are the only family of the White Heron clan. There are no more. When we disappear, the White Heron ends.”

Susan Sarandon is to make her UK theatre debut alongside Andrea Riseborough, when the pair portray the same woman at different ages, in Tracy Letts’ drama Mary Page Marlowe.

The play will be staged this autumn at the Old Vic in London by Matthew Warchus, in his final season as artistic director. Several actors portray the title character, which is described as a “time-jumping mosaic” spanning 70 years in the life of an accountant and mother of two in Ohio.

It marks a high-profile return to the stage for Sarandon, who made her Broadway debut in 1972 in An Evening with Richard Nixon and … by Gore Vidal before her breakout film role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. By the time she was next on Broadway, in Exit the King in 2009, she was a household name and five-time Oscar nominee (who won for Dead Man Walking). Sarandon said: “I’m so honoured to be asked to be in a play during Matthew Warchus’s final season at the Old Vic,” adding that she was “terrified but excited”.

Riseborough, similarly better known as a film star, has not acted on stage for 15 years. Her last major London role was in Ivanov opposite Kenneth Branagh at the Donmar Warehouse in 2008. She recently appeared in Warchus’s screen version of Matilda the Musical. Riseborough said: “It’s an honour to be taking on the role of Mary – amongst others – in Tracy Letts’ poignant play, alongside the extraordinary Susan Sarandon. I’m so very grateful to be working with Matthew again and thrilled to finally work at the Old Vic, a beautiful space.”

Warchus called Letts “one of America’s greatest living writers” and said the play would be staged in-the-round – as will all the productions in his final season. Mary Page Marlowe will run from 23 September to 1 November.

Letts is best known for his Pulitzer winner August: Osage County, which was directed by Anna D Shapiro in a Chicago Steppenwolf production that played at London’s National Theatre in 2008. Shapiro directed the premiere of Mary Page Marlowe for the Steppenwolf theatre in 2016. In his review, the New York Times critic Charles Isherwood wrote: “Some may find the play’s form frustrating; I found it beautiful and affecting, like flipping through a friend’s photo album in no particular order, finding some faces familiar, others unexpected. And then you come upon someone entirely unknown – who obviously meant much to your friend – and you realize, with a pang of sadness, that your knowledge of even those closest to you will always be fragmentary and incomplete.”

This will be the play’s UK premiere. Letts said: “From my first experiences as a playwright here 30 years ago, to the run of August: Osage County at the National, London is an integral part of my development as an artist. I’m deeply gratified to have Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic, directed by Matthew, featuring these remarkable actresses. A genuine thrill.”

Warchus will step down from the Old Vic in September next year, when he will be succeeded by Rupert Goold, who in turn will be replaced in the top job at the Almeida theatre by Dominic Cooke.