The best things to do and see (or watch) in Europe this week

“Goodbye forever brat summer”, Charli XCX tweeted this week, signalling an end to all things hot, sexy and frivolous.

It may feel that summer is over as the cool weather starts to turn those verdant parks back to an Autumnal auburn, but that doesn’t mean you have to pack up your troubles in an old brat bag.

There’s still plenty to smile about as the Venice Film Festival draws to a close with many films to get excited about such as Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, while over in Germany there’s not one, but two great festivals for pop fans, and a brilliant retrospective on at a contemporary gallery in Geneva.

Exhibitions

MAMCO, from Memory at MAMCO (Geneva, Switzerland)

MAMCO, the contemporary art museum in Geneva, Switzerland is about to go under a huge three-year renovation in 2025. Before the brilliant museum is taken out of circulation until 2028, MAMCO is putting on a massive exhibition pulling from over 6,000 pieces from its history, curated by the public.

The museum was first opened in Geneva in 1994 and plans to represent works from each of its eras, whether it's the minimal and conceptual art it was founded on, the Neo-Geo artists of the 80s, Relational Aesthetics from the 90s, and the digital work from the 00s onwards. Curators will read submissions from the public and adapt the exhibition to what people want most to revisit. Did we mention it’s also free to celebrate 30 years since the gallery opened.

Festivals

Germany’s the place to be this weekend if you want to get stuck into some pop music. If you’re in Munich, get yourself down to Superbloom for a line-up including Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, OneRepublic, the Chainsmokers and both Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson doing solo sets.

For those closer to the capital, Lollapalooza comes to Berlin’s Olympiastadion with a very similar line-up to Superbloom over the 7-8th weekend. The only act missing from their line-up already listed is Calvin Harris, who is replaced by Martin Garrix. If you’re equidistant between the two cities, clearly the choice is which mega famous DJ you prefer.

Movies

Euronews critics David Mouriquand and Amber Bryce have spent another week at the 81st Venice Film Festival to bring us the inside scoop on the best films showing on the Lido. So far the highlights from our critics have included Luca Guadagnino’s bold take on William S. Burroughs’ modern-classic novel Queer, which we called one of the “most daring and distinctive films of the Competition this year.”

Other notable films that premiered are Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Female friendships and conversations about mortality are at the forefront of this bold entry from the typically flamboyant Spanish filmmaker. Both The Brutalist and Babygirl have also been highlighted as ones to watch by our dynamic duo.

On the other end of the spectrum, Todd Phillips’ sequel Joker: Folie à Deux went down like a lead balloon as Joaquin Phoenix returning to his Oscar-winning role with the musical aid of Lady Gaga failed to raise our critics’ pulses.

Television

New to Netflix this week is the eight-part TV series ‘KAOS’ featuring Jeff Goldblum in a starring role as Zeus, king of the Greek gods. The creative new take on the Ancient Greek pantheon from Charlie Covell (‘The End of the F***ing World’) puts the deities alongside regular humans in a contemporary Crete reimagined as a glossy Los Angeles equivalent.

Goldblum is having the time of his life chewing the scenery playing himself, only this time the gravitas is warranted by his literal god status. It suits him surprisingly well and the whole thing ticks over with fun aplomb as it plays with every Greek myth the script can get its mitts around. This is a fun show and will keep any history and mythology buffs entertained, but our review noted that it missed out on the kind of zinging script that would catapult this into a best of the year list.

Music awards finalists

We're looking forward to the seeing who'll be smiling after the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night. Two other major awards nomination lists have been released in the last week, hyping us up for the awards season that comes with the cooler months of the year.

International Opera Awards

The first was the finalists for the International Opera Awards 2024. The winners will be announced at the Bayerische Staatsoper’s Prinzregententheater in Munich on Wednesday 2 October, after it won Opera Company of the Year in 2023. For that top award, this year’s nominees include Komische Oper, National Theatre Prague, Opéra national du Rhin, Opera Philadelphia, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège and Wiener Staatsoper.

DJ Awards

At a totally other end of the musical spectrum, the nominees for the DJ Awards have been announced. When the awards show takes place at Club Chinois in Ibiza, also on the 2nd October, it will be the first time the awards have been given in four years. Categories include genres such as house, trance, and afro. The top award, International DJ Of The Year, puts Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Fisher, Martin Garrix, Peggy Gou and Swedish House Mafia as the frontrunners.