Moroccan-British artist and photographer Hassan Hajjaj has photographed some of the biggest names in music and pop culture – from Madonna, Billie Eilish and Alicia Keys to Cardi B and Lee "Scratch" Perry. Now, 40 of his vibrant "Rock Stars" are on show at Paris's Philharmonie. Hajjaj tells us how he creates his instantly recognisable portraits, blends Moroccan heritage with London street culture – and what happens when a global superstar steps in front of his camera.

This week on arts24's film show, an unrecognisable Tom Cruise takes a career gamble in "Digger", Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new satire, in which he plays an oil billionaire whose company initiates a world-ending ecological disaster. Critics are divided, but is an Oscar nomination possible? Also in cinemas this week, Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson star in the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, "Verity".

In this edition of arts24, Jennifer Ben Brahim meets founding member and lead guitarist of Interpol, Daniel Kessler. They are one of New York's defining bands, keeping the spirit of indie sleaze alive for nearly three decades. The post-punk rockers first drew attention with "Turn on the Bright Lights", laying the foundations for their icy, atmospheric sound and instantly recognisable guitar lines. They're back with their eighth album, "This Mirror Weighs a Ton", a reflection on the troubling times we're living through, from surveillance to the rise of AI.

In this edition of our arts24 music show, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with Jack Cochrane and Callum Wilson from Scottish indie four-piece The Snuts. They burst onto the music scene as the first Scottish band in over a decade to top the UK album charts. After years on the road and living in Glasgow, the band decided to move back to their home region of West Lothian. The return to their roots inspired the creation of their fourth album "Joy in Short Moments", a bittersweet record about success, failure, parenthood and loss.

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, its founding promises, identity and place in the world are being fiercely debated. As the Festival America in Vincennes gets underway, we're putting that question to two acclaimed novelists: New Yorker Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of "Long Island Compromise", and Lebanese-American writer Rabih Alameddine, whose novel "The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)" won the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction.

Nigerian superstar Yemi Alade is one of Africa's biggest female artists, with global hits, hundreds of millions of views online and a collaboration with Beyoncé. Speaking to Eve Jackson as she kicks off her new tour, the Grammy-nominated singer looks back on her remarkable career, reveals how she nearly missed the email that led to her "Black Is King" collaboration with Beyoncé and talks about her new album, "It's Yemi Alade", and latest single "Ala Bekee" with Don Jazzy.

Eve Jackson and film critic Emma Jones run through this week's new cinema releases in France. Brad Pitt heads into the Alaskan wilderness with his four-legged co-star in "Heart of the Beast". Also, Robert Pattinson takes on a controversial TV host in "Primetime", a new generation discovers "Sense and Sensibility", and Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's "The Scarecrows' Wedding" arrives on the big screen.

"If you don’t understand the history of Black women, you don’t understand the history of America." Those words from Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison open Sasha Bonét's debut memoir, "The Waterbearers". The New York writer traces three generations of Black women in her family: her grandmother Betty Jean, the daughter of formerly enslaved people in Louisiana who went on to raise eleven children; her mother Connie, who sought a middle-class life in majority-white Houston; and Sasha herself, now raising her daughter Sofia in New York.

This week on Arts24, music editor Marjorie Hache chats to Buck's saxophonist. He tells us more about how the six-piece came together during lockdown and took their name from the antler-sporting animal to make psychedelic wild jazz. They are currently touring their new album "Animal Boisé".  We also meet French Cameroonian Dj Producer Tatyana Jane, Ed Banger Records' first female signing in two decades. Plus, we take a look at new releases by Leon Bridges and M83.

Her new album ‘The Meaning of Flowers’ tackles much more than just flora, as the Danish musician and composer explores the sounds and sentiments of the very beginning of human life. She tells us about creating emotionally rich soundscapes that have often been used in film and television. We also discuss the Faustian pact that artists can find themselves in when it comes to balancing creative, personal and professional lives.