Stories of courage, specifically about women, are the theme of a special festival organised this weekend by Amnesty International in Paris. For three days, the curtain will go up on the 12th Cinema and Human Rights Festival. The event invites moviegoers and activists to watch a series of short and longer films and then debate their content. In Perspective, we spoke to coordinator Ievgeniia Sokova.

In the US, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed and a criminal investigation has been opened after the disaster at the Astroworld festival last week. Eight people died and hundreds were injured at the concert stampede in Houston, Texas. The youngest of those killed was just 14 years old. The lawsuits say Travis Scott and surprise guest Drake incited the crowd and that concert producer Live Nation failed to provide adequate security.

The Lagos state government through its Ministry of Agriculture held a Food Festival to stimulate investors’ interest in the food business at the Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island. The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu who assumed the role of a chef along with Big Brother Naija season 6 winner, White Money to cook a delicacy encouraged the sellers to take advantage of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) to grow their businesses, noting that part of the event’s objectives was to boost the entrepreneurial spirit of the residents.

In the heart of France's Burgundy vineyards, where villages bear the names of grands crus such as Pommard, Nuit-Saint-Georges and Chablis, preparations are underway for the Saint-Vincent tournante wine festival; a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. Every year, in the last week of January, some 20,000 people are expected for the two-day festival. This time, the villages of Gilly-lès-Cîteaux and Vougeot are the lucky hosts. We catch up with Élisabeth, the head of the not-for-profit organisation, but also Bernard, a volunteer winegrower.

For the ninth edition of FIMO228, Togo's international fashion festival, the event's founder Jacques Logoh is training the spotlight on a diverse cast of models. Larissa Solim Amelete, the face of this year's event, has succeeded in getting her family to support her modelling career, while Cathy Crussy, a TV producer, is in her 50s. Then there's Rebecca Attiogbé, who drives a forklift truck for a day job, and Alex Sef, the androgynous muse for Ethiopian label Afropian this season. FRANCE 24 went to meet them.

A four-day day paragliding festival has returned to the skies of eastern Ghana after the pandemic forced a two-year hiatus. The country’s first tandem paragliding pilot, Jonathan Quaye, spent years working to get this certification, and now hopes to share his love for the skies with his fellow Ghanaians.

The Lyon Fashion Film Festival is open to admissions from both art schools and brands. This year’s second edition of the event showcased a parade of fresh young talents who aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers. The winner of the designers' prize, Rémy Perrier, credits fashion with helping him to discover his true queer identity. Meanwhile, the collective 16:25 was awarded the Students' Prize for "Programmé.e", their mesmerising depiction of the drawn-out agony of the mourning process, juxtaposed with the frenetic pace of disposable fashion. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

The 9th edition of FIMO, Togo's international fashion festival, didn’t open with a series of fashion shows, but instead with a science symposium organised by the University of Lomé. The theme of the discussion: how to pursue ethical fashion production while Africa continues to be the recipient of thousands of tonnes of the rest of the world’s unsold merchandise? And how to make the most of the rich pool of African design talent? We get some insightful answers from designers, fashion students and academics.

As the 75th Cannes Film Festival gets underway, FRANCE 24's Olivia Salazar-Winspear brings us a glimpse of what its opening ceremony will involve, including a Palme d’Honneur for Forest Whitaker. We also take a look at the composition of this year’s jury, with French actor Vincent Lindon shepherding an artistic team who'll assess the features competing for the Palme d’Or. Plus we get a preview of the opening film "Final Cut", in which director Michel Hazanavicius declares his love for genre movies in a lighthearted French parody of a zombie horror slasher.

France says it has captured Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a top extremist figure in Mali. Also, Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala has been putting his country on the map as fastest man on the continent in the 100 metres. And as the world animation elite meets in the French mountain town of Annecy, the African industry is taking up more and more space. We speak to the founder of Lagos Comic Con and studio founder Ayodele Elegba.

After two years of cancelled events due to the pandemic, it was severe storms that disrupted the opening of one of France's biggest music festivals. The gates of Les Eurockéennes had only been open for 20 minutes when heavy rain and strong gusts of wind brought down multiple trees across the Belfort event, damaged some of the equipment on site and left several of the early festivalgoers injured.

Avignon may be France’s oldest arts festival, but it has a resolutely contemporary approach to the dramatic arts, with experimental performances that draw on dance, theatre and poetic traditions. We sit down with multidisciplinary artist Kubra Khademi, whose performance “From Armour to Jackets” kicks off the festival, to hear about the military detritus that became a poignant symbol of the American retreat from her native Afghanistan. Kubra talks about being forced to flee Kabul after a controversial artistic performance in 2015 and discusses how the Taliban have now left Afghans “trapped in their own country”.