Bond author sorry for Idris Elba comment

Plus: Fury Road is year's best film, say critics; Image Nation trio to screen in London; Rona Jaffe awards winners announced; Apple considers move into TV production; and country music award winners honoured.

Idris Elba. Matt Dunham / AP Photo

The writer of the new James Bond novel apologised on Tuesday after saying that British actor Idris Elba is "too street" to play 007. Elba, 42, star of US TV smash The Wire and the BBC crime drama Luther, is rumoured to be among the actors being considered to replace Daniel Craig when he quite the role. He would be the first black actor to play the spy. "Idris Elba is a terrific actor, but I can think of other black actors who would do it better," Anthony Horowitz, author of new Bond novel Trigger Mortis, told the Daily Mail. "It's not a colour issue ... Is it a question of being suave? Yeah." Horowitz later said he was thinking of Elba's gritty detective role in Luther during the interview, and didn't mean to cause offence. "In the article I expressed the opinion that, to my mind, Adrian Lester would be a better choice – but I'm a writer not a casting director so what do I know?" he said on Twitter. – AP

Fury Road is year's best film, say critics

International critics have voted Mad Max: Fury Road their film of the year, their main federation announced on Tuesday. The action movie reboot, made by the original series' Australian director George Miller, will be awarded the Grand Prix of the International Federation of Film Critics at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain on September 18. "You could have knocked me over with a feather. It's lovely to have this great cohort of critics acknowledge our collective labours in this way," Miller said. The vote by 493 of the world's leading critics, normally rewards less mainstream art house films. ., the fourth film in the apocalyptic adventure franchise, starred Tom Hardy, who took over the title role from Mel Gibson, and Charlize Theron. – AFP

Image Nation trio to screen in London

Three films produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi will have their European premieres at the British Film Institute's London Film Festival next month. The first is He Named Me Malala, the documentary from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim, about teenage Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai, a campaigner for girls' right to education who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen on a school bus in her native Pakistan. The other two Image Nation films being screened are by Emirati directors – Ali F Mostafa's road-movie comedy From A to B, which was a big hit when it opened last year's Abu Dhabi Film Festival, and Zinzana (Rattle the Cage), which is a psychological thriller from first-time director Majid Al Ansari about a man locked in a prison cell who is forced to play along with the games of a madman to save his family. Al Ansari said: "The festival has been a champion of emerging filmmakers for more than 60 years, and I am so pleased it is supporting my first feature film. This is a great opportunity for not only myself and my team, but for Emirati filmmakers and the growing industry in the UAE." Mostafa said: "I consider London my second home. My mother is from there, I was born there and I first trained as a filmmaker at the London Film School, so I'm excited that my second feature film has been selected for this high-profile festival. From A to B's festival circuit has been a dream – having opened in my capital city of Abu Dhabi, screened in my home of Dubai and now set to have its European premiere in the city where I was born. I'm looking forward to sharing From A to B with audiences in London and to celebrate this moment with my fellow filmmaker Majid and the team at Image Nation." The festival runs from October 7 to 18. Confirmed guests include Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch and Maggie Smith. – The National staff • Don't miss our exclusive review of He Named Me Malala online and in print on Sunday

Rona Jaffe awards winners announced

Fiction writer Vanessa Hua and non-fiction writer Meehan Crist are among this year’s recipients of the Rona Jaffe Awards, which hand out US$30,000 (Dh110,188) prizes for emerging female authors. Hua is working on a novel about a Chinese factory girl, and Crist is studying traumatic brain injury. The other winners announced on Tuesday were poets Ashley M Jones and Britteney Black Rose Kapri, and fiction writers Amanda Rae and Natalie Haney Tilghman. The Jaffe grants will help the winners complete their current projects. – AP

Apple considers move into TV production

Apple is considering the idea of making original TV shows to challenge established players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, according to trade magazine Variety. It said that the company has been in talks with Hollywood executives to assess interest. Apple declined to comment on what it referred to as “rumour and speculation”. News about plans for Apple TV is expected to form part of a media event the company will host in San Francisco on September 9. – AFP

Academy of Country Music award winners honoured

Country star Luke Bryan may have one of the most popular albums in the country, but Loretta Lynn made his day when she gave him a kiss.

Bryan, Lynn, Eric Church and the band Alabama were honoured by their peers in country music with special achievement awards from the Academy of Country Music during a special event Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The stars were celebrated with performances by Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves at the 9th annual ACM Honors event at the Ryman Auditorium.

Lynn received the Crystal Milestone Award for her 50-year country music career, and Bryan, who received the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award, is coming off a two-week ride atop the Billboard 200 chart with his new album, Kill the Lights.

“I got a kiss from Loretta, so I am still pretty excited about that,” Bryan said after getting a smooch from the coal miner’s daughter while on the red carpet before the event.

“It’s an amazing year,” Bryan said. “I have been blessed that every year in my life for the past several years have been even bigger than the last. It’s fun to come out and celebrate nights like this where even more important people in the industry get recognised.”

Lambert sang one of the more controversial songs of Lynn's career, Rated X.

“That was one that I sang and a lot of the disc jockeys banned because they thought it was going to be really bad,” Lynn said. “And as they listened to it, they thought, `Hey, This is not as a bad as I thought it was.’ So it was a big record for me.”

Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr., sang Like Jesus Does by Church, who received the Jim Reeves International Award, and Aldean performed a medley of Alabama songs. Alabama received the Career Achievement Award.

“I have covered a lot of Alabama songs over the years in the clubs, and they are one of the main reasons that I am in the music business and wanted to do this for a living,” Aldean said. – AP