FRANCE 24's culture editor Eve Jackson takes viewers on a festive journey to the heart of  Provence in a special programme exploring the enchanting Christmas traditions of Aix-en-Provence. This exclusive holiday show brings to life the region's rich cultural heritage, focusing on two of its most treasured customs: the delicious tradition of the 13 desserts and the art of making santons, the clay figurines used in nativity scenes.

Franco-American actress Lily-Rose Depp sits down with FRANCE 24 to talk about taking on the leading role in Robert Eggers’ stylish update of the classic vampire horror film "Nosferatu". From her deep-seated love of gothic horror to the secret desires harboured by her character, Depp says this latest film was a "dream collaboration". We also meet Franco-Algerian director Chakib Taleb-Bendiab, whose debut film explores how the violence of the 1990s civil war has repercussions in today's Algeria. Plus our reporters catch up with the singer who is working to have Iranian women's voices heard far from home.

Film critic Emma Jones tells us why she loved the tender, bittersweet romance at the centre of "We Live in Time", as Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star as a London couple confronted with the brevity of life. We also discuss the new-gen version of "Nosferatu" as director Robert Eggers casts a stylishly spooky Lily-Rose Depp as the protagonist in this modern update of the vampire story. Plus, Aaron-Taylor Johnson delves deep into the Spiderman universe for his role in "Kraven the Hunter" and we check out filmmaker Barry Jenkins' journey into the origin story of "Mufasa: The Lion King".

Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch tells us about the Aïta tradition of sung poetry at the centre of "Everybody Loves Touda" as his latest film gets a release in France. He tells us why actress Nisrin Erradi was the perfect choice to play the central character, sharing some of her personality traits, and about Nisrin's commitment to the serious training required to take on the role. Ayouch also tells us about challenging gender stereotypes and social norms in Morocco through his cinema and about music's expressive power when it comes to saying the unsayable.

This week, Marjorie Hache welcomes Eloïse Bella Kohn, a French pianist based in Vienna, as well as British-French-Korean artist Min-Jung Kym. Both have released new records. In "Sounds For The Soul 2", Kym continues to explore how music can be a therapeutic tool in the fight against cancer. She tells us how her own experience led her not to underestimate the vibrational power of compositions, ranging from Vivaldi to Queen. Bella Kohn has meanwhile challenged herself to undertake a little-known piece by France's famous opera composer Jules Massenet and an established concerto by Maurice Ravel for her new album "Parisienne".

Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz delivers a tropical take on film noir in “Motel Destino”, an erotic thriller set on the sun-bleached shores of Northeastern Brazil. Aïnouz tells us why his home state of Céara was the perfect backdrop for this brooding tale, and why the clichéd gender dynamics of genre movies were due an update. We talk about toxic masculinity and the violent undercurrents that feature in his films which are a reflection of the social reality the filmmaker has observed in Brazil and beyond. 

The first season of the Korean drama was Netflix’s most streamed series ever. Dheepthika Laurent tells us about the return of the hit show where Gi Hun returns as the protagonist caught up in this horrifying competition. We check out a new television feature from entertainment mogul Tyler Perry – “The Six Triple Eight”, which shines a light on the only US battalion made up of women of colour who played a key role during WWII. And a family-friendly Star Wars spin-off arrives just in time for the holidays with Jude Law taking the lead role in “Skeleton Crew”.

Dheepthika Laurent and film critic Perrine Quenesson look at the latest film releases in France, starting with a very famous aviator: the enigmatic Antoine de Saint Exupéry, best known for writing "The Little Prince". He’s the focus of "Saint-Ex", a biopic by Argentine-French filmmaker Pablo Aguero. Also on the big screen is another biopic on a legendary French stage actress in Guillaume Nicloux’s film "The Divine Sarah Bernhardt", and a very French movie – "Holy Cow" by filmmaker Louise Courvoisier – set in the Jura region home to Comté cheese, as well as a documentary on renowned French music composer Michel Legrand in David Hertzog Dessites’ "Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand”.

Street art used to mean spontaneous scribbles under the cover of darkness; now those images hang in major museums and sell at auction for millions. A new exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris is celebrating the universal language of street art. “We Are Here” features work from around the world, including an installation by French artist Seth. He tells us how collaborating with people around the world has informed both his style and the way he creates his pieces, and why we should adopt more of a child-like attitude when we encounter artwork in galleries.

On today’s weekly music show on Arts24, Jennifer Ben Brahim speaks to the singer of one of the most successful British bands of the last decade. Bastille stormed the UK charts in 2013 with their debut album “Bad Blood”, spawning smash-hits like “Pompeii”. Four records later, Dan Smith has taken a gap year of sorts, releasing a solo Bastille album that blends music with his love of history called "& (Ampersand)”. It shines a spotlight on historical figures including Edvard Munch and even his own father. Dan Smith has brought this new music on tour, with seven special one-off shows around the world, including Paris.