The director’s fantastical drama, starring a never-better Nicole Kidman, was booed and criticised in 2004 but its fans have grown over time

It’s the score that hooks you first in Birth: that light, sprightly, slightly anxious jitter of woodwind that trills over the film’s opening shot, as the camera tracks a man’s morning run through a snow-carpeted Central Park. For a while, the music follows the pace of his movement, lending this ordinary activity an otherworldly lilt – the whitened trees and paths of New York’s great green lung taking on the air of Grimm Brothers woodland.

But heavier orchestral intrusions threaten this rhythmic coordination between sound and image. Battering brass and percussion take over as the runner stalls, collapses and dies under Greyshot Arch; as we discordantly cut to shimmery footage of a water birth, the flute section picks up where it left off. Just four minutes into Jonathan Glazer’s brilliant, prismatic second film, one spell has been broken, and another perhaps already cast.

An upsurge in directors starring in their own movies has seen mixed results. Lake Bell, Elia Suleiman and Viggo Mortensen explain the perks and pitfalls of being on both sides of the camera

Since the very first directorial cameos – George Méliès’ sorcerer-like appearances in The Vanishing Lady and Playing Cards in the 1890s – directors have often been unable to resist being in front of, as well as behind, the camera.” M Night Shyamalan, a film-maker notoriously eager to appear in his own work speaks for all these frustrated thespians: “It’s important for me to be a part of the film in some way […] I would love to play the lead role, but it’s physically impossible.”

An ever-growing league of multi-hyphenate actor-directors have, however, been proving Shyamalan wrong. Aside from the obvious heavyweights in 20th-century cinema who juggled on and off-camera personae (Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Warren Beatty, Laurence Olivier, Charlie Chaplin et al), the past decade has seen a staggering influx of actors deciding to direct – and often casting themselves as the main character – in their own films. Michael B Jordan went from squaring up inside the ring in Creed to escaping it (and of course getting back into it) eight years later in Creed III as actor-director, while Meg Ryan, after decades of starring in swoony romcoms, last year became pilot of the airport romcom What Happens Later. Greta Gerwig went from performing (and sometimes writing) indie comedies such as Frances Ha and Damsels in Distress to mainstream Hollywood with Barbie. Meanwhile, Anna Kendrick is centre stage in all senses in her dating show serial killer thriller mashup (aptly named) Woman of the Hour. And Dev Patel, hankering after roles with more ass kicking than he’d previously been permitted, wanted in on the action, literally, with Monkey Man. The list goes on.

Bold flavours and satisfying textures combine in this hearty, autumnal, Spanish-style traybake

This hearty dish is rich, warming and perfect for chilly autumn days, or whenever you crave some comfort food. I’m surprised that jerusalem artichokes are so underused in the UK, especially given their versatility and how easy they are to grow. Don’t be nervous about the whole bulb of garlic here, either: just separate the unpeeled cloves and pop them in – I love sucking out the gooey flesh after they’ve baked. I’ve also used torn sourdough instead of the more traditional migas for a more rustic feel. Serve with a glass of amontillado.

Deluge of delegates at biodiversity conference has led some to impromptu accommodation

Robert Baluku, a Ugandan delegate to the UN’s biodiversity summit in Colombia, found himself between a rock and hard place when his team’s accommodation was abruptly cancelled, leaving them stranded before the start of Cop16 in Cali.

The city’s hotels were packed to capacity with thousands of country leaders, scientists, government ministers and UN negotiators, and Baluku was left scrambling for options – until the Motel Deseos (Desires) came to the rescue.

A state parliament debate about the design movement shows how fear of ‘un-German’ ideas is being revived for the 21st century

• Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian and journalist

The far right generally isn’t fond of modern art. There is nothing new in its fear of the rejection of tradition. What is new is that today’s far-right parties seem to see this threat not just in contemporary culture, but also in modern art created a century ago.

In 1933, the Nazis brutally crushed the Bauhaus school, one of Germany’s most important contributions to modern art and architecture. They saw its internationalist outlook and its many foreign and Jewish members as “un-German”; leftwingers were particularly attracted to the movement’s radical rejection of local tradition in favour of universal styles. But the Nazis failed to stop the design revolution it had unleashed. The minimalist and functional principles of Bauhaus have found their way into our lives, inspiring everything from Ikea furniture to prefabricated housebuilding. A recent development in Germany, though, has revealed that the underlying culture war is far from over.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian and journalist

A fun but often unpalatable collection of recipes by authors including Robert Graves, Norman Mailer and Beryl Bainbridge should come with a trigger warning. Anyone for Instant Mince or Dutch Onion Crisps?

In most instances, the words “I can’t cook” are a lie: the person saying them is perfectly able in the kitchen, and just being needy, excessively modest or anxious (maybe their sauce split before you arrived). But sometimes, alas, the phrase is just a simple statement of fact. At the tail end of the 1970s, for instance, the editor of a book called Writers’ Favourite Recipes asked the novelist Beryl Bainbridge what she liked to make for supper after a long day at the typewriter. Bainbridge carefully prefaced what she had to tell him with the phrase (used by her children) “I am a very bad cooker”, but the editor was not – woe! – to be put off. Her recipe for Instant Mince was indeed included in the collection, for all that it was quite obviously a crime not only against mince, but also against potatoes, tinned tomatoes, vinegar, and any human beings who might end up having to eat it (in case you’re wondering, the four ingredients are combined and boiled vigorously until the pan is “almost dry”).

For a while, of course, Beryl’s Instant Mince was pretty much lost to posterity; cook books go out of print, and with them the culinary outrages of the past (“spoon the instant mince on to [buttered, white] bread and cover with HP sauce, also raw onion rings”). But now, like some horrible alien in a movie, it’s back, for another editor has seen fit to gather it into a new collection of author’s recipes titled Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake, where it lurks next to several other equally unappetising confections: Robert Graves’s Mock Anchovy Pate, Norman Mailer’s Stuffed Mushrooms, Rebecca West’s Dutch Onion Crisps. As you may tell, this is not a book for the easily-made-queasy, and though I am usually implacably opposed to trigger warnings, I think it should have come with one: This Book Includes Scenes Featuring Large Quantities of Margarine and Fillet of Beef Served With Bananas. Some Readers May Find It Distressing.

Iain Glen is a sturdy presence leading a Belgian village’s resistance to the German advance, but there are limp scenes and soggy cliches aplenty

Starting off with that forgettable title, this is a creaky drama that plods blandly through the fictional story of a Belgian farmer leading his village’s resistance to a plundering unit of Germans at the outbreak of the first world war. It all feels a bit familiar, and matters are not helped by the fact that the actors playing Belgians and Germans are all speaking in English in an assortment of accents. Oddly, some accents are more accenty than others; the German characters are all unmistakably German.

Game of Thrones’s Iain Glen is the film’s heavyweight, bringing a muscular presence to the role of the farmer, Leonard Lambert. At the beginning of the film, Leonard’s biggest worry is his son’s romance with the posh doctor’s daughter. But worse is to come when Germans march into the village en route to invading France. The German commander (Philippe Brenninkmeyer) gives orders to his men to take only what’s necessary, no bloodshed. That’s ignored by his own son Laurentz (Joe Anderson), a character in the cinematic tradition of swaggeringly evil German officers, a cruel sadist who commits a terrible atrocity. It’s the movie’s best scene, shockingly killing off a character I’d complacently assumed would be in it for the duration. The violence itself is muted; this is screen warfare at its most tactful, eyes averted from the grisly bits.

Michael Dressel was born in Berlin but spent four decades living and working in the US. As the election looms, he talks us through his new book capturing a nation in crisis

The score, on a card bearing Frédéric Chopin’s hand-written name, was discovered by a curator at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York

An unknown waltz by Chopin, written nearly 200 years ago, has been discovered in the vault of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

The score, on a card bearing Frédéric Chopin’s hand-written name, was found by a curator in the spring, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Exclusive: Linked accounts on X push petrostate’s posts about climate summit and drown out criticism

Scores of apparently fake social media accounts are boosting Azerbaijan’s hosting of the Cop29 climate summit, an investigation has revealed.

The accounts were mostly set up after July, at which time seven of the top 10 most engaged posts using the hashtags #COP29 and #COP29Azerbaijan were critical of Azerbaijan’s role in the conflict with Armenia, using hashtags such as #stopgreenwashgenocide. By September this had changed, with all of the top 10 most engaged posts coming from the official Cop29 Azerbaijan account.

The Republican candidate embodies all the worst aspects of capitalism, condensed into human form

Dear US voters, in the spirit in which I would beg a dear friend not to get a facial tattoo, I’m writing to ask you not to vote for Donald Trump. While the decision to do so would make a statement, signalling your justifiable anger about the pain you have suffered, it is likely to disfigure you, damage your life chances and prove irreversible. In the wake of his rally at Madison Square Garden, no one can now doubt what he intends to do to you.

I can guess where you think I’m coming from, but I have no love for the Democrats. Unlike the UK Labour party staffers campaigning for Kamala Harris, I have no affiliations. While there have been some improvements under Joe Biden, for decades, regardless of which party was in power, the value generated by the middle and working classes has been mopped up by the very rich. This is the result of 45 years of neoliberalism, a life-sapping programme to which both parties subscribe. I share the horror and disgust many of you feel towards Biden’s foreign policy, especially his support for the Israeli government while it pursues its genocidal onslaught in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon.

Marks found at Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire are among most identified at any of the charity’s 400 sites

As English Heritage welcomes thousands of visitors over the Halloween period, a new discovery has made Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire a clear contender for the spookiest site of them all.

The charity has uncovered a “staggering array” of witches’ marks and rare curses carved into the walls of the Tudor property, once visited by Henry VIII and his fifth Queen, Catherine Howard.

Rick Berry, a volunteer at English Heritage, discovered and mapped about 20 ritual protection, or apotropaic marks – among the most identified at any of the charity’s 400 sites.

Knesset vote to declare UN agency for Palestinian refugees a terror organisation offers no alternative route for aid

• Israeli parliament vote to ban Unrwa from Israel within 90 days

Israel’s parliament has passed bills banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories, designating it a terror organisation, and cutting all ties between the agency and the Israeli government.

Critics condemn ‘sinister’ remark that suggests potential Trump-Mike Johnson plot to settle contested election

• US elections 2024 – live updates

Donald Trump faced mounting suspicion of hatching a plot to steal next week’s presidential election as Democrats and commentators focused on his references to a “little secret” at Sunday night’s tumultuous Madison Square Garden rally.

The allusions initially attracted little notice amid the angry backlash provoked by racist jokes and incendiary rhetoric from a succession of warm-up speakers, including an offensive comment about Puerto Ricans that even Trump’s own campaign felt obliged to disavow.

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Foreign ministers and aid organisations criticise Israel over vote to oust UN agency from operating in war-torn territory, with US saying it had an ‘irreplaceable role’

• Middle East live: latest updates

World leaders and international aid organisations have voiced fears for the delivery of crucial aid in Gaza after the Israeli parliament’s vote to ban the UN relief and works agency (Unrwa), with secretary general Antonio Guterres saying on Monday night: “There is no alternative to Unrwa.”

Guterres said the UN agency would be prevented from doing UN general assembly-mandated work if Israel implemented the laws, which would ban the agency from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Donald Trump’s words echo those of Hitler as Jeff Bezos writes op-ed defending Washington Post ducking endorsement

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Journalists unable to report and rescue workers unable to save victims of Israeli offensive hindering all movement and communication

• Middle East crisis live: latest updates

When internet connectivity returned to Jabalia in northern Gaza after yet another blackout last Thursday, the Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif took to his social media accounts to let the world know what happened during the hours the area was offline. Israeli airstrikes had hit several houses on the same street in the al-Hawaja neighbourhood, he said, killing or wounding an estimated 150 people – but no one knew for sure.

The ever-tightening Israeli siege of Jabalia and several other parts of northern Gaza – enforced by tanks and ground troops – meant that civil defence teams and medics could not come to rescue those trapped under the rubble. No reporters could make it either, other than al-Sharif, who lives nearby. “No civil defence, no coverage, nothing but death and destruction,” he said in a video from the quiet, dark street. “No one is coming to save them.”

Abou Sangaré may have won an award at Cannes, but he says all he wants is to be allowed work as a mechanic

Irregular migration and stymied deportation orders have long loomed over French politics, issues that were exploited in recent elections by a far right eager to stoke fears.

Now an award-winning film is amplifying the voices of those who have long been shut out of the conversation: undocumented migrants themselves.

In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astounding

In the summer of 2019, when Joe was 21, he went on a university rugby tour of California. One night, one of his teammates bought some cannabis edibles to share, and Joe ate some. For the next 12 hours, he believed he was in hell. He was on fire; his body was suffused with pain. His ears were filled first with incoherent screaming and then with sinister whispering. Joe’s friends thought their teammate’s bad trip was funny, even as they wrestled him away from the windows when he tried to jump from the seventh floor of their hotel.

When he woke up the next morning, Joe was still in hell. A devilish, humanoid form lurking in the periphery of his vision was telling him he had died the previous night. A chorus of other voices joined in, wailing in agony. They were entirely real to him, even though he knew they couldn’t be. He had a rugby match to play, and 10 minutes in, he couldn’t see or feel his hands; he couldn’t move. His teammates laughed as he came off the pitch. Poor old Joe.

In 2000, only one of these Arctic beasts was resident in the UK. Now there are 16. Is there any benefit to captivity for this climate-ravaged species?

A small boy calls out the sights as the train speeds through the Suffolk countryside from London Liverpool Street.

“Tractor. Church. Pigs. Polar bear! Dad! A polar bear!”

Sailors visit the polar bear enclosure at London zoo in 1930. Below: a bear at Dudley Zoo in Worcestershire, 1937 (left), and Brumas, the first baby polar bear to be successfully reared in the UK, at London Zoo in 1950. Photographs: Fox/Getty Images; Mirrorpix/Getty Images

This week on Comfort Eating, Grace is joined by one of the most successful and enduring film stars of the past 40 years: Richard E Grant. The Swaziland-born English actor made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I, and has since starred in the likes of Star Wars, Gosford Park and Saltburn. Richard and Grace chew over the food he ate when he ran away from home as a child, the breakfast he eats every single day but hates, and what exactly he cooked Melissa McCarthy for brunch before the Oscars ceremony.

If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with James Norton, David Harewood and Tamsin Greig

New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday

A startup company, Heliospect Genomics, is offering to help wealthy couples screen their embryos for IQ using controversial technology that raises questions about the ethics of genetic enhancement. Science correspondent Hannah Devlin tells Madeleine Finlay about the joint investigation into the company by the Guardian and the campaign group Hope Not Hate

US startup charging couples to ‘screen embryos for IQ’