Rebecca Miller is used to carrying the burden and expectation that comes with having famous family connections. Even though her father is the legendary playwright Arthur Miller, she decided to become an author. As if that were not a big enough concern, the 46-year-old born in Connecticut married the actor Daniel Day-Lewis and then started working as a movie director. These things, however, do not weigh on Miller's mind. She explains: "I honestly don't know what it would have been like without having those things in my life. It's always mentioned and of course it's part of who I am. But I've just made my fourth film and people know me for them, so I don't really think about my relations."
The recent Berlin Film Festival hosted the premiere of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, which like Miller's first film, Personal Velocity, is adapted from one of her own novels. Pippa Lee is the story of one woman's life and her frustrations. We first meet Lee in her fifties, played by Robin Wright Penn. Revelations about her past and her difficult upbringing are made in flashback. The teenage Pippa is played by the Gossip Girl star Blake Lively. The pivotal relationships are those that Pippa has with her 80-year-old husband Herb (Alan Arkin) and a quirky younger neighbour Chris (Keanu Reeves).
Pippa is described in the story as being the "perfect artist's wife". Miller says: "I think that the role of the artist's wife, in a way, is an art in itself. I think it's something to be admired. When I grew up, I knew women like that but now they are hard to come by."
Miller, whose mother was the acclaimed photographer Inge Mörath, could not be more at odds with Pippa when it comes to making a career. Indeed judging by her curriculum vitae, she wants to try her hand at everything. In the movie business she started off as an actress, with notable films including Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford, Alan J Pakula's Consenting Adults and Alan Rudolph's Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle.
Her acting career came to a halt when she moved behind the camera in 1995 to write and direct the macabre childhood fantasy tale Angela, starring Vincent Gallo. She then turned her hand to books, writing the three-part novel Personal Velocity in 2001, which she turned into a movie starring Parker Posey and Kyra Sedgwick a year later. She then directed her husband in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, a movie that had its poignant world premiere in Berlin in 2005, a few days after Miller's father died. Miller opted to stand offstage as her husband presented the film. She fought back tears as Day-Lewis said: "It took us a couple of days to decide whether to come, but as soon as we did, we knew that we had made the right decision. It is a shame that Arthur Miller could not be here in person. He was immensely proud of his daughter and would sing her praises to anyone who would give him an ear."
She also adapted the screenplay of John Auburn's play Proof, which was turned into a movie directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In person, Miller has the air of a schoolteacher, but judging by her prodigious output she must work the hours of a high-flying lawyer.
When she speaks of her attraction to the fictional housewife Pippa Lee, she says: "I think it's the ways that I'm not like her that are the more striking. What I love about Pippa is that she doesn't have to create a life outside herself: her life is her art. In that sense we definitely differ. She's someone with an enormous sense of empathy and I think I have an ability to measure myself in other people's skin. I admire her a great deal. I'd like to be her friend."
Miller has two children with Day-Lewis and the family spends its time between New York and Ireland. She paints and sculpts as well. This is a woman who juggles many roles and it was this idea of not knowing all the different sides of a person that seemed to drive her to write her latest work.
"One of the things that I liked about The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and why it wasn't just called The Lives of Pippa Lee was the idea of circles, which are almost like the rings of a tree. It's one inside the other, inside the other," she says.
Miller seems to be a believer in the idea that a person is shaped by their experiences and it's impossible to forget your past. It's always there in some way, ready to bite you when it's least expected.
The book and the film came so close together that it is hard to believe that Miller, who has always directed her own work, didn't have one eye on a movie while she was writing the prose. However she insists that this was not the case.
"At the time I was writing the novel, I thought I was only writing a novel. It's a really exhausting process to think, 'I'm going to write a screenplay'. When I finished the novel it was almost as if I was still thirsty and wanted to go into that next dimension with the story. I began to wonder about how actors would interpret the story and whether I'd be surprised by their performances."
"Books and films just have different needs and requirements. A book can be as long as you want; it can be 200 pages or 600 pages, so you have more room to explain the intricacies of relationships. A movie has to last a certain amount of time. This is why I had to change the whole balance and structure between the past and present."
In her book which, at just over 200 pages, is a sprightly read. A single section concentrates on the young Pippa Lee, whereas in the movie flashbacks are interspersed throughout the narrative.
Miller also views writing as a more pleasant experience than directing. "They both have different pains," she explains. "A movie is more stressful because it's more like a war - the enemies being time and mediocrity."
Despite the war analogy, Miller claims that she is not a tyrant on set. "When I work as a director it's like being a magnet if everyone had metal filings in them. You have to move them and it's sort of an invisible job," she says. "I'm not sure how I seem to those looking in from the outside, but from the inside I think I'm decisive. I feel like an actor really needs to be free and open and trust the person directing them. If they feel they they're constrained I don't think their work will be good. They must feel open and safe. That is really part of my job."
As if to illustrate the point she describes how Alan Arkin rewrote some of his lines, which were then incorporated into the script because they added a better sense of rhythm than the original versions. She also avoided doing too many rehearsals through fear that the actors would lose some spontaneity and emotion from their work. For the same reason Miller would only do four or five takes before moving to the next scene. In her description of her working method she gives the sense of being someone who knows exactly what they want and how they're going to get it.
The conversation comes to an end with a more delicate question. Would she ever consider directing a film adapted from one of her father's works? This time the answer is a little more cryptic: "I might do it if I felt I was the right person for the job."
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
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