KUALA LUMPUR, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - A top Malaysia-based Dutch food company on Wednesday condemned an anti-Islamic film as locals began to boycott products from the Netherlands.

The 17-minute film 'Fitna' by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders was released on the Internet last Thursday, triggering widespread condemnation.

SYDNEY, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - A young Australian artist said Wednesday he had turned down lucrative offers for his haunting portrait of the late actor Heath Ledger and would give the painting to the star's mother.

TOKYO, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese newspapers warned Wednesday that freedom of expression was at stake after cinemas pulled a documentary about a Tokyo shrine honouring war dead amid pressure from nationalists.

LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - George Clooney may be one of the elite Hollywood stars to have earned Oscar nominations for acting and film-making, but the iconic heart-throb is still getting used to directing himself.

SAO PAULO, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Documentary films, it was once thought, should be neutral windows on the world, objective investigations brought to the big screen.

But not any more -- not in our world of YouTube home videos and Michael Moore polemics and reality TV and feature narratives that borrow heavily from true stories.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - A filmmaker's wish to unite people worldwide by letting them see life through each others' eyes is coming true.

People in countries rich and poor have captured their communities or beliefs in short videos, which will be available to view free around the globe during a four-hour presentation on May 10.

LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - The private detective at the center of a Hollywood wiretapping scandal offered to murder a film producer involved in a business dispute with a client, a court heard Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Brad Pitt is being lined up to play British explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle in 1925 during an expedition to find a lost city, it was reported on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - A 33-year-old woman caught near the Malibu home of actor John Cusack was arrested on suspicion of stalking the star, police said Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said that Emily Leatherman was detained fon Sunday and booked for felony stalking and violation of a restraining order obtained by Cusack.

TOKYO, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - A controversial documentary on a Tokyo war shrine looks unlikely to be screened in Japan amid pressure from right-wingers, prompting the government and media groups to cry foul on Tuesday.