Features

SEOUL — The challenge is straight from Greek mythology: hold a boulder aloft as long as possible. Korean car dealer Jo Jin-hyeong lasted over two hours, captivating global audiences in a reality show that could signal a new K-culture export success.

After films such as Oscar-winning “Parasite” and TV series including Golden Globe-bedecked “Squid Game” helped popularise K-content overseas, industry figures have said South Korea’s high-quality reality shows may be next in line for domination.

“Physical: 100”, the new Netflix show that gym buff Jo competed in, featured 100 men and women in prime physical condition, including South Korea’s ex-Olympians and former special forces soldiers, performing absurdly difficult challenges.

It is the first unscripted series to top the streaming giant’s non-English chart, building on the popularity of “Singles Inferno”, a Korean dating show that became a sleeper hit worldwide last year.

Part of the charm of such shows is the contestants: Jo, who started hitting the gym as a weedy teenager and has never been a professional athlete, found he could hold his own against some of South Korea’s strongest people.

The 41-year-old won one of the show’s most brutal contests, the Greek myth-inspired “Punishment of Atlas” challenge, where contestants had to lift and hold a boulder that bodybuilder contestant Kim Kang-min estimated was at least 50 kilogrammes.

Jo managed two hours and 14 minutes.

“When I lifted it I thought it was going to end in about 30 minutes,” he told AFP, saying he kept telling himself: “Hang in there for just 10 more minutes, then 10 more minutes... .”

He came fourth overall in the show — an achievement he said was once unthinkable.

“I started exercising in middle school because I was too puny. I wanted to be stronger,” he said, getting emotional when he thought of his younger self, who he thanked “for not giving up”.

Over the last few years, South Korean content has taken the world by storm, with over 60 per cent of Netflix viewers watching a show from the East Asian country in 2022, company data showed.

Netflix, which spent more than 1 trillion won ($759 million) developing Korean content from 2015 to 2021, said it was expanding its South Korean reality show output this year.

“Korean nonfiction shows didn’t travel before Netflix started taking them global,” said Don Kang, the company’s vice president of Korean content.

“There are some things we did to make shows more easily understandable to the global audience,” he said, such as simplifying subtitles.

Car dealer Jo said he thought the show was proving a hit abroad due to the genuine sense of camaraderie in South Korea’s sports community.

“We cheered each other on in every contest, comforted each other when someone lost,” he told AFP.

The “relative wholesomeness” of South Korean reality shows is a core part of their appeal to foreign audiences, said Regina Kim, an entertainment writer and expert on K-content based in New York City.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air for American viewers who might be tired of watching reality stars hook up or fight all the time,” she told AFP.

“There could definitely be more Korean reality shows that become popular overseas, including in the US,” she said, pointing to successful Korean reality formats that have become global franchises.

“There are US remakes of Korean reality shows like ‘The Masked Singer’ and ‘I Can See Your Voice’ that have been super popular here,” she said, referring to the hit South Korean music shows later produced in English by Fox.

“Physical: 100” caused some controversy by pitting contestants of different genders against each other, prompting questions about whether it was fair. Ultimately, the top five contestants were men.

But Jang Eun-sil, one of 23 women competing in the show, told AFP she found the format “original and fresh”, and that it helped to motivate her throughout the challenges.

“I just gave my best every moment, so I have no regrets and never thought it was unfair,” said the 32-year-old wrestler, who was widely praised for the leadership she demonstrated on the show.

Although she didn’t win, she said competing allowed her to bring her beloved sport to a broader audience.

“To be honest, wrestling is an unpopular sport in South Korea,” she said, adding it was a “huge honour” that, thanks to her, more South Koreans had become aware that women wrestlers existed.

She’s also seen an influx of global fans flooding her social media accounts. “I now plan to add English subtitles [to my YouTube channel],” she said.

SAUSALITO, California — Appearing at a glance to be just a simple pleasure boat floating on the San Francisco Bay, as the hydrofoil-equipped vessel picks up speed it suddenly begins rising above the water, grabbing the attention of passengers on a nearby ferry.

But instead of a roaring engine thrusting the boat along, its electric motor barely makes a sound.

Such electric boats with computer-guided hydrofoils may soon supplant conventional ferries with combustion engines in harbours and bays around the world, if Swedish “flying boat” maker Candela has its way.

“It’s half plane and half boat; almost like riding a magic carpet,” French sailor Tanguy de Lamotte said from the helm of the 8.5-metre long C8.

De Lamotte, who has completed the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race in a sailboat twice as large as the C8, heads Candela’s US arm.

The Swedish company’s goal is to make the most energy-efficient electric boats “and get away from fossil fuels”, according to de Lamotte.

Hydrofoils that act as underwater wings lift the boat as it accelerates, leaving only the rotor and hydrofoils immersed and greatly reducing friction.

In addition to using some 80 per cent less energy to travel, the boat also avoids nausea-causing waves or swells, de Lamotte said.

And since the engine is electric, passengers are spared the noise and smell of gas-powered motors.

Drop in the ocean?

Candela has received some 150 orders for the C8, which has a starting price of $400,000. The first delivery is expected to arrive in Florida by the end of the month.

While the project may seem like a drop in the ocean when it comes to countering climate change-inducing fossil fuel emissions, it is at least an oar stroke in the right direction, Lamotte contended.

Even if the C8 is a hit, their environmental benefit would be limited since recreational boats tend to be used only a couple of days a week and when weather is pleasant.

So Candela wants to tackle ferries. Their next model is a catamaran with 25 seats to be tested as a shuttle in the Stockholm archipelago later this year, he said.

The service is expected to cut in half the amount of time it takes people using ferries or buses to get from the Ekero suburb to the city centre once it gets going.

The company also plans to test its P8 craft — a “limousine” version of the C8 — between the airport and hotels in Venice, Italy.

For now, electric motors combined with hydrofoils are far from being viable in massive container ships or cruise ships.

And, the issue of producing batteries and recycling the materials remains a hindrance in the industry.

“The solution of our environmental problem is going to come with technology,” de Lamotte told AFP aboard the C8.

“That is what we are trying to do; for sure the impact is way less than what we are using these days with internal combustion engines.”

Heading for Cannes

Candela touts the C8 as the “fastest” and “longest-range” electric boat on the market travelling as far as(about 100 kilometres on a single charge with an average speed of 22 knots and peak at 30 knots.

According to an Allied Market Research report published last year, the electric boat market was worth $5 billion in 2021 and will exceed $16 billion by 2031.

Candela seeks to differentiate itself with hydrofoils and an advanced computer that automatically adjusts them to keep voyages smooth and safe.

“Designing an electric boat is easy enough,” said de Lamotte, who was working on his own prototype when hired by the Swedish company.

“Making it fly by itself is more complicated.”

French entrepreneur Alexei Chemenda said he and his wife “fell in love” with the Candela flying boat after spotting an older model in the San Francisco Bay last year and giving one a try.

The couple plans to have a C8 delivered to Cannes, where they have a house, and where they plan to rent it.

“It’s magical. The boat rises, the wake disappears and you feel like you are floating.”

Often associated with big, brawny and brutal SUVs and pick-ups, off-road driving is often better served with a small package. Light, nimble and manoeuvrable over loose surfaces and along narrow inhospitable trails, small SUVs like the Lada Niva, Suzuki Jimny and Mahindra Thar can often go, and better manoeuvre, where larger and more powerful machines better adept for desert dunes, cannot. 

Light and small yet high riding also translates into more generous off-road angles. Meanwhile, lower purchase and running low costs, and simpler more rugged engineering allow more peace of mind during demanding off-road adventures. 

Lada Niva Bronto

An enduring Russian automotive icon since its 1977 introduction, the Lada Niva off-roader has served under numerous nameplates over the years including the penultimate “4x4” moniker. Readopting its most recognisable “Niva” name in its latest iteration since 2021 (one year ahead of its 45th anniversary), Lada’s slow paced and evolutionary development approach has been to not alter a winning formula of easy affordability, high off-road ability, fun on-road agility and surprising comfort. 

An unpretentious and undiluted off-roader built on a unibody frame with independent front and rugged live axle, coil spring rear suspension, the Niva’s off-road abilities can humble far more sophisticated and expensive SUVs. A jewel in the rough, since inception with scant creature comforts, it now boasts a better equipped and more modern and refined interior as the Niva Legend. Powered by a 1.7-litre petrol engine developing 82BHP at 5,000rpm and 95lb/ft at 4,000rpm, the Niva’s four-wheel-drive, low gear ratios and super angles make short work of demanding off-road conditions.

Best in Bronto specification, the Niva gains sculpted bumpers, bulging wheel-arches, chunky off-road tyres and revised grille, for a tougher and feistier look. The Niva Bronto, meanwhile, provides enhanced off-road abilities and comfort levels, over the standard variants, and includes front and rear locking differentials with a more aggressive 4.1:1 ratio, reinforced rear axle and modified dampers with longer wheel travel. Inside, the Bronto features better noise insulation, more comfortable heated seats, enhanced climate system, a revised dashboard and rear headrests. Not offered in Jordan in Bronto specification, conversion kits can, however, be independently sourced.

Specifications (Niva Legend)

• Engine: 1.7-litre, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 5-speed manual
• Driveline: four-wheel-drive low gear transfer, locking rear differential
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 82 (83) [61] @5,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 95 (129) @4,000rpm
• 0-100km/h: 17-seconds
• Top speed: 142km/h
• Length: 3,640mm
• Width: 1,680mm
• Height: 1,640mm
• Wheelbase: 2,200mm
• Ground clearance: 213mm
• Cargo volume, min/max: 263-/982-litres
• Water fording: 510-600mm (est.)
• Slope angle 58° (est.)
• Kerb weight: 1285kg
• Suspension, F/R: Independent, Double wishbones/live axle coil springs
• Turning circle: 11-meters
• Brakes, F/R: Discs/drums
• Tyres: 185/75R16

Suzuki Jimny

An honest, uncomplicated, efficient and thoroughly capable off-roader, the Suzuki Jimny is above all else a fun and upbeat mini-SUV that can out-do pricier and more complex vehicles. First launched in 1970 and in its third generation since 2018, the latest iteration of Japan’s definitive mechanical mountain goat is designed to live up to its feisty and upstart image with a squared and angular style playfully reminiscent of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class luxury off-roader

Powered by a tiny 0.65-litre turbocharged 3-cylinder engine for the Japanese “kei” car market, the export Jimny, however, receives a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox for the Middle East.  Driving the rear wheels for balanced and efficient on-road driving under normal conditions, the Jimny’s four-wheel-drive can be engaged to make short shrift of rugged off-road routes, and features a low gear ratio transfer for even more challenging conditions.

Sitting high off the ground and with a short wheelbase and tough front and coil sprung live axles, the Jimny’s extensive off-road credentials include 210mm ground clearance and generous 37° approach, 28° break-over and 49° departure angles. With a selective braking traction system assisting with off-road ability, the Jimny is meanwhile manoeuvrable, easy to place and engaging on-road, with terrific sightlines and tight 9.8-metre turning circle. Producing 101BHP at 6,000rpm and 96lb/ft torque at 4,000rpm, it meanwhile accelerates through 0-100km/h in around 14-second and onto 140km/h.

Specifications

• Engine: 1.5-litre, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 4-speed automatic
• Drive-line: four-wheel-drive, low ratio transfer
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 101 (102) [75] @6,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 96 (130) @4,000rpm
• 0-100km/h: approximately 14-seconds (estimate)
• Top speed: 140km/h
• Length: 3,480mm
• Width: 1,645mm
• Height: 1,705mm
• Wheelbase: 2,250mm
• Ground clearance: 210mm
• Approach/break-over/departure angles: 37°/28°/49°
• Kerb weight: 1,135kg
• Suspension: Live axle, trailing arms, coil springs
• Brakes, F/R: Discs/drums
• Tyres: 195/80R15

Mahindra Thar

A smaller more affordable and somewhat more analogue counterpoint to the iconic Jeep Wrangler, the Mahindra Thar in fact has a shared lineage, going back to the Indian automotive group’s 1940s origins as a licensed Willys Jeep manufacturer. Evocatively and unmistakably familiar with its flat upright panels and windows, broad wheel-arches, tapered bonnet, slotted grille and round headlights, the second generation, Thar, however, cuts a distinctly more assertive and statuesque figure than its more classically styled 2010 predecessor. 

Launched in 2020, the new Thar is modernised, yet, true to its roots. A big leap forward in terms of amenities, convenience, comfort, technology and infotainment features, the latest Thar moves decisively up the automotive ladder, but retains its rugged appearance, body-on-frame construction and extensive off-road capabilities and hardware. Riding on double wishbone front and live-axle rear suspension, the Thar is rugged and thoroughly capable off-roader with excellent 226mm ground clearance and 650mm water fording depth.

Sitting high with short wheelbase and overhangs, the Thar meanwhile delivers generous 41.2° approach, 26.2° break-over and 36° departure angles. Engine options include turbocharged diesel and petrol variants, with the latter 2-litre four-cylinder producing 150BHP at 5,000rpm and 221lb/ft at an accessibly broad 1,250-3,000rpm band. Driving rear wheels on-road, with four-wheel-drive, locking hubs and low gear ratios for off-road, the Thar is a convincing cut-price junior Wrangler alternative in India, and would surely be hit with Middle East drivers if a left-hand drive export version were available.

Specifications

• Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 6-speed manual
• Drive-line: Part-time four-wheel-drive, auto hub lock, low gear ratios
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 150 (152) [112] @5,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 221 (300) @1,250-3,000rpm
• Length: 3,985mm
• Width: 1,820mm
• Height: 1,844mm
• Wheelbase: 2,450mm
• Ground clearance: 226mm
• Water fording: 650mm
• Approach/break-over/departure: 41.2°/26.2°/36°
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbone, independent/multi-link, solid axle, coil springs
• Brakes, F/R: discs/drums
• Tyres: 255/65R18

By Dina Halaseh
Educational Psychologist

Have you been setting your goals and failing at many of them year after year? Here are some tried and tested, ultimate habit building tricks for you!

According to author James Clear, atomic habits are small and easy to practice to become part of your routine these habits eventually turn into a source of power.

Change and growth

The main idea lies in the concept that doing a simple task regularly until it becomes systematic will result in compound growth. Even though a habit may seem small or insignificant, it will result in remarkable change over time and compounded growth. As you can probably tell by now, it’s not about the habit itself, rather about the systems built around it. If you wish to achieve growth, forget about setting goals and focus on building the right systems that help you focus on who you want to become. In the same way small habits build a growth system, bad habits build systems that unfortunately weigh you down. In order to break these bad habits, we need to change the system behind them.

There are four main laws of behavioural change. These are the main concepts we can focus on to build better systems and habits.

Making it obvious

In order to help you build better habits, make the chosen habit obvious around you. For example, if one of your new year’s goals this year is to focus on reading to help nourish your mind, you can do that by stacking habits one on top of the other. Think of the following rule: “After I… I will… “So, after I drink my coffee, I will read 2 pages.” 

For a bad habit, we would do the absolute opposite and make it invisible. If you wish to cut down on sugar to help maintain a healthier lifestyle, you can make sure to not buy any chocolate that might cause you to feel weak or test your ability to say no when confronted with it. 

The main idea is to try to avoid the temptation rather than resisting it.

Making it attractive

The second rule is easy; you need to ensure the new habit is attractive. A trick that can help you start a habit you might be dreading is to do something you enjoy just before attempting a difficult habit. Another trick is to surround yourself with an environment that supports building that habit. For example, to start reading, you can join a book club, connect with friends who read or join cultures that support reading.

For parents, helping your child see a habit as attractive would be to first model that behaviour and second, to offer options and choices to ensure autonomy.

Making it easy

An easy habit is more likely to be practiced than a hard one, so in order to make the system work, try to simplify the habit as much as you can so you don’t feel like it’s a lot of work. 

Author Clear explains the “law of least effort”; creating environmental changes that make that habit as easy as possible. You can start a new habit using the two-minute rule. Any new habit should only take two minutes to do. Do it daily and regularly until it becomes a regular habit then add another two-minute practice and build up the habit from small practices to a strong habit.

Technology plays a huge role here; if you can use technology to make a habit easier, then take advantage of it. This can be as simple as automating a bank operation to set a little bit of money aside as a savings account.

To break a bad habit, try to think of ways to make the habit seem difficult, the harder it is, the less likely you are to do it.

Making it satisfactory

Reward is something that motivates most of us; having that sense of achievement on its own might be the reward needed when focusing on a new habit. The change that happens automatically with time will be another reward as well. To do that, focus on small successes and praise yourself for your small accomplishments.

Focus on changing one per cent every day; this will ultimately result in atomic change. There is no need to change everything at once, or even be twice as better as yesterday. Only ensure you are changing 1 per cent at a time. If you change this one per cent every day, you will end up being better by 37 per cent by the end of the year! 

So, before you set your goals this year, consider what systems need to be in place and what can be changed to ensure building better habits.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

ACHILL, Ireland — Colin Farrell had many people to thank following his best actor win at the Golden Globes for “The Banshees of Inisherin”. He made a point of mentioning the locals of Achill Island and Inis Mor.

“We were just one big family,” the Irish actor told the Beverly Hills awards ceremony last month, before also name-checking his animal co-star in the critically acclaimed dark comedy, Jenny the miniature donkey.

Two weeks later the movie, filmed on location on the two remote islands off Ireland’s west coast, picked up nine Oscar nominations.

“Of course we have fingers crossed for a win,” Chris McCarthy, the manager of Achill Tourism, told AFP.

“And we’ll take any one of the nine nominations. We’re not choosy,” he quipped.

Between July and November 2021, Achill Island’s dramatic landscape of rugged cliffs, peat bogs and sandy beaches was transformed.

The island’s Purteen Harbour, usually a working fisherman’s wharf, became the location for a portside street scene with a 1920s shopfront.

And the pub where much of the film’s action takes place was built from scratch atop windswept cliffs on Achill’s southwest coast.

Atlantic atmosphere

McCarthy said the film’s director, Martin McDonagh, wanted the actors “to feel the atmosphere of the Atlantic” when they opened the door of the pub. 

“They couldn’t create this in the studio,” McCarthy explained, standing at the beauty spot as February winds whipped sea spray onto the cliffs. 

Filming was an economic boon for Achill, injecting 1.7 million euros ($1.8 million) into the area, home to fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.

Now it is looking to capitalise on a tourism bounce. Every time a clip from the film or an awards speech goes viral online, McCarthy and his team see a surge in bookings.

Mick Lynch, owner of Lynott’s Pub on Achill, explained over an evening pint that visitors had already begun inquiring about the film.

Among the souvenirs lining the pub’s walls are what Lynch calls the movie’s “infamous” shears, used by actor Brendan Gleeson’s character to chop off his own fingers.

Lynch said his tiny pub — a dry stone wall structure with a thatched roof built as a jail in the 16th century — is a true-to-life version of the pub created for “Banshees”.

“If these walls could talk, the stories they’d tell... this is the real thing,” he explained.

During filming, it served as a watering hole for Gleeson and fellow actor Pat Shortt, who runs the on-screen pub.

US singer Taylor Swift, a fan of the film, has asked for the pub from the movie set to be rebuilt so that she can visit.

“We don’t need to,” Lynch said. “She can come here.”

Alan Gielty, manager of Achill Coaches, has created a guided tour around the movie locations.

“For the last month an awful lot of people are travelling to the island just to see the sights of the movie,” he explained. 

“It’s already bringing in a lot of interest from outside and it’s going to be very, very busy.”

Madeline Condell, who was one of 120 extras in the film, said the island was in the grip of an Oscars buzz.

Condell owns two donkeys that missed out on appearing alongside Jenny. She said there would be more than a few parties planned for the night of the March 12 awards. 

“We almost feel like we deserve an Oscar as well because of the beauty of the area,” she said.

“It’s such a lovely place to visit and anyone that ever does visit always falls in love with the place.”

JESSHEIM/HELSINKI — Norwegian electric car owners have a word for the way they feel when they look nervously at their battery indicators while driving in subfreezing weather: “rekkevideangst”, or “range anxiety”.

Tesla owner Philip Benassi has experienced it on cold winter days, but like other Norwegians, he has learned to cope with it.

With temperatures often falling below zero, rugged terrain and long stretches of remote roads, Norway may not seem like the most ideal place to drive an electric car, whose battery dies faster in cold weather.

Yet the country is the undisputed world champion when it comes to the zero-emission vehicles.

A record four out of five new autos sold in Norway last year were electric, in a major oil-producing country that aims to end the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2025 — a decade ahead of the European Union’s planned ban.

Benassi took the plunge in 2018.

In his gleaming white Tesla S, the 38-year-old salesman for a cosmetics company clocks between 20,000 and 25,000 kilometres a year.

Like most new electric vehicle owners, he had moments of panic in the beginning when he saw the battery gauge drop quickly, with the prospect of it falling to zero on a deserted country road.

“I didn’t know the car well enough. But after all these years, I have a pretty good idea of how many kilowatts it needs and I know that it varies a lot depending on whether the car has spent the night outdoors or in a garage,” he told AFP.

The car uses much more battery when it is parked outside in temperatures that can reach minus 15ºC, Benassi said.

“It takes quite a while for it to go back to normal consumption,” he added.

In the cold season, how much range electric cars lose depends on the model and how low the temperature gets.

“But the following rules of thumb apply: A frost of around minus 10ºC will reduce the operating range by around a third compared to summer weather, and a severe one [minus 20ºC or more] by up to half,” said Finnish consultant Vesa Linja-aho.

“By storing the car in a warm garage, this phenomenon can be mitigated somewhat,” he added.

Charging stations

Drivers must plan their routes before long journeys, but car applications and Norway’s vast network of more than 5,600 fast and superfast charging stations help make the process easier.

Electric cars accounted for 54 per cent of new car registrations last year in Finnmark, Norway’s northernmost region in the Arctic where the mercury has at times fallen to minus 51ºC — a sign that the cold problem is not insurmountable.

Other Nordic countries that regularly experience chilly temperatures, such as Iceland and Sweden, also top world rankings for electric vehicles.

“Now more and more new electric cars have systems for pre-heating the batteries, which is very smart because you get more range and because if your car is heated before you charge, it will also charge faster,” said Christina Bu, head of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association.

Electric car owners are not the only ones who have to worry about the cold. 

“Actually, if it’s very, very cold — freezing temperatures — sometimes diesel engine cars can’t start and an electric car starts,” she said.

‘Everyone can do it’

Norwegians are clearly sold: More than 20 per cent of cars on Norway’s roads are now electric — and green, with the electricity they consume generated almost exclusively by hydro power.

Norway’s longstanding policy of tax rebates for electric cars has facilitated the transition, although the government has begun to roll back some of the incentives to make up for a budget shortfall estimated at nearly 40 billion kroner ($4 billion) last year.

There is “a simple answer to why we have this success in Norway and that’s green taxes”, Bu said.

“We tax what we don’t want, namely fossil fuel cars, and we promote what we do want, electric cars. It’s as simple as that,” she said.

“If Norway can do this, everyone else can do it as well.”

NEW YORK — Two 16th-century sculptures, jewels of French Renaissance art, have been on display since 1908 at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

But thanks to modern technology and an unusual agreement, precise 3D copies will be made and installed in the French castle where the originals long resided.

The facsimiles plan is the fruit of a rare partnership between the Met, as the New York museum is known, and the Dordogne department in southwestern France.

The statues, both from the early 1500s and by an anonymous sculptor, represent Biblical scenes entitled “Entombment of Christ” and “Pieta With Donors”. 

A tourism promotion agency in the Dordogne, Semitour, will be working with the Atelier of Fac-Similes Perigord to make the replicas over the coming months.

For nearly 400 years, the originals graced the chapel of the Biron chateau in the Dordogne. 

Built on a strategic promontory, the sprawling fortress comprises buildings from different eras, including a dungeon dating to the 12th century.

Damaged and rebuilt repeatedly through the centuries, the chateau has belonged since 1978 to the Dordogne department, which declared it a historic monument, Dordogne president Germinal Peiro said during a visit to the Met.

The technology to be employed in copying the sculptures was described to AFP by Francis Rigenbach, who heads the mediaeval atelier, and C. Griffith Mann, the Met’s medieval art curator.

Using 3D scanners to make digital images of the sculptures, artisans will be able to create replicas without having to move or disturb the monumental originals.

“By making a digital ‘cast,’” said Rigenbach, “we can employ non-invasive techniques” to produce identical copies.

He added that “90 per cent of the artistic work” will involve reproducing signs of wear, such as the patina on the ageing marble originals — though both statues are considered exceptionally well-preserved.

The replicas, to be returned to their original spots in the Biron chapel, will cost around 350,000 euros ($375,000), Rigenbach added. 

His atelier is famed for having copied the celebrated Lascaux cave — including its prehistoric wall art — for a museum in Montignac, in northern Perigord.

That allows visitors to feel as if they were visiting the cave itself, which was closed 60 years ago to avoid damage to the fragile site, said Sebastien Cailler, who manages the Biron chateau.

“And when you see these facsimile sculptures in Biron, you’ll surely feel the same emotion as if you were standing before the originals,” he told AFP in New York.

The two statues, whose value was recognised by historians and collectors in the late 18th century, were sold in 1907 by the last marquis of Biron to wealthy American banker John Pierpont Morgan, who was then president of the Met board.

In the 1950s, Dordogne and the Biron castle negotiated with the Met for four years in a vain effort to recover the statues. 

In 2018, Perigord officials revived talks with the Met; four years later, technological tests were undertaken, and then on February 15, the agreement was signed in New York.

This type of unusual deal ensures that art works can exist in two places, Mann said, while adding that his museum, with its millions of annual visitors, “seems like the safest place to have the sculptures for their long-term preservation”.

LONDON — A gut-wrenching war movie from Germany and pitch-black Irish comedy were the big winners as British cinema handed out its annual BAFTA awards on Sunday, with less than a month to go to the Oscars.

With 14 nods, German director Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” started the night as the joint most-nominated foreign-language film in the BAFTA academy’s 76-year history.

The Netflix drama triumphed with seven awards, including best film and best director for Berger, as well as original score and cinematography, in the buildup to the Academy Awards on March 12. 

Berger credited his daughter Matilda for turning his “doubts into trust”, after she told him he had to make a movie of Erich Maria Remarque’s powerful 1929 novel, which she was reading in school. 

Producer Malte Grunert said the British plaudits for a German-language film were “just incredible”, and it has also amassed nine Oscar nominations.

With a nod to modern-day conflicts including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said that the film and novel showed that “war is anything but an adventure”.

The German movie had tied with Ang Lee’s martial arts drama “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, co-starring Michelle Yeoh, which also earned 14 BAFTA nominations in 2001. 

Yeoh was nominated for best actress this year as a worn-down laundromat owner who transforms into a high-kicking heroine, in the wildly inventive “Everything Everywhere All At Once”.

Yeoh’s kung-fu science-fiction film received 10 BAFTA nominations, but only won one, for editing. She lost out to Cate Blanchett for her portrayal of a troubled classical music conductor in “Tar”.

“This is extraordinary. I didn’t prepare anything (to say) because it’s been such an extraordinary year for women,” the Australian actress said, convinced that the award would go to one of her fellow nominees.

Making sadness fun

Also on 10 nominations, but faring far better in London, was the Irish tragicomedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” co-starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

Its four wins included best supporting actor for Barry Keoghan and best supporting actress for Kerry Condon — who at first was not given the prize after a miscommunication on stage.

“Banshees” director Martin McDonagh, one of the rare UK nominees for this year’s top gongs, did win “best British film” despite the heavily Irish profile of “Banshees” and best original screenplay.

“Making a sad film shouldn’t be so much fun,” he said.

Beating out the favourite Farrell, US actor Austin Butler won the leading actor prize for his all-out portrayal of the king of rock and roll in “Elvis”.

“This means the world to me,” Butler told the ceremony, still using the Presley drawl that he learned for Baz Luhrmann’s movie.

Kremlin critic ‘banned’

The awards suffered controversy two years ago when BAFTA gave a lifetime achievement award to British actor and producer Noel Clarke, only for a series of sexual misconduct allegations to emerge against him.

This time, Bulgarian investigative journalist and Kremlin critic Christo Grozev said he has was “banned” from attending the awards, where a film about dissident Alexei Navalny won best documentary.

Grozev, who is credited with helping to reveal a plot to kill Navalny, appears in the documentary. He tweeted “wow” after the prize was announced.

“He is such an important part of this film, so it’s very sad for us that he is not here,” producer Odessa Rae told reporters at the awards.

London’s Metropolitan police said only that “some journalists face the hostile intentions of foreign states whilst in the UK”, while BAFTA said the safety of its guests and staff was a priority.

Blue ribbons

BAFTA also faced criticism for overlooking women. 

Only one, Gina Prince-Bythewood, was nominated for best director, for “The Woman King”. That was one more than the Oscars managed in that category this year.

Berger, Farrell, Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis were among many attendees who wore blue ribbons on their suits and gowns in support of refugees.

The gesture came after many more people were displaced by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and just ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine.