Watching “Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5” — and Hearing Damian Lewis Bring Orwell to Life

“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell, 1984

As Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 arrives in cinemas across the UK, it feels like the perfect moment to revisit this powerful documentary—and the review I wrote after seeing it at the IFC Center in New York. If anything, the film’s message about truth, power, and the fragility of democracy feels even more urgent today. So I’m sharing this review again, because this is a film that deserves to be seen, discussed, and taken very seriously.

The film has already received well-deserved recognition, taking home two wins at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards—Best Score for Alexei Aigui and Best Narration by Damian Lewis. And now, with its wider release, more audiences can see exactly why it’s earning so much praise. Continue reading “Watching “Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5” — and Hearing Damian Lewis Bring Orwell to Life”

Sweet Chaos Is Here: Damian Lewis Drops the First Single from Second Album ‘Sweet Chaos’

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” ⭐

— Friedrich Nietzsche

Damianista’s note (April 5, 2026): This post was originally posted on March 27 and has been updated since – with new information.

It’s finally happening.

After months of clues, gigs, and just enough teasing to keep us guessing, Damian Lewis has made it official — Sweet Chaos, the first single from his second album is here.

I’ve just listened to Sweet Chaos. In fact, it’s past midnight and the song is already on repeat in my house — I’m trying to take in the lyrics to the best of my ability (more on that later).

It all started with Damian’s Instagram post — the confirmation we’ve been waiting for a long time.

Then the cover appeared in his story — the pre-save link, the image, the first real visual of the upcoming album.

Continue reading “Sweet Chaos Is Here: Damian Lewis Drops the First Single from Second Album ‘Sweet Chaos’”

Damian Lewis’ Song of the Week: Zaragoza

“The lush blues sound of ‘Zaragoza’ perfectly blends his whisky-parched vocal with the excellent band surrounding him.” – Clash Music

Damian Lewis at Hoxton Hall, March 2023

Over the past months, our Song of the Week series has been taking us deep into the stories behind Mission Creep — one song at a time. If you’ve missed any of the earlier posts, you can catch up with the full series here. And now, as we wait (not so patiently…) for Damian’s album number two later this year, it feels like the perfect moment to return to the beginning of his musical journey. .

Zaragoza is where it all starts: back in the busking days, on the road, in the middle of a storm.

Continue reading “Damian Lewis’ Song of the Week: Zaragoza”

A Treasure Rediscovered: Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory Bring Magic To Poetry

source: gloucestershireecho.co.uk

I was there in the room when Damian and Helen read love poems to each other from The Love Book, a brilliant collection of classic and contemporary love poems that vary from Shakespeare to E.E. Cummings to Maya Angelou coming together in a book as well as in an app. It was a moving and intimate hour with a powerhouse husband and wife team reading poems, teasing each other, and sharing their dynamic chemistry with the audience. And could there be anything better to share with the fandom on World Poetry Day?

It turns out that when the festival inquired about a possible video recording of the reading in 2014, Helen and Damian said no. Damian tells The Sunday Times:

Continue reading “A Treasure Rediscovered: Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory Bring Magic To Poetry”

Remembering Nicholas Brody and His Muslim Faith

“You live in despair for eight years; you can turn to religion, too. And the King James Bible was not available.” – Nicholas Brody

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

I was born and raised in a secular family in Turkey, a country that is predominantly Muslim. That is, even though I am not religious myself, I am very familiar with the Islamic traditions, rituals and norms. I am obviously coming out of the culture and have been shaped by it in ways that I am probably not aware of 🙂 Thus, I thought it would be neat to talk about Nicholas Brody, my most favorite fictional character ever on small screen, and his Muslim faith, in celebration of Eid al-Fitr!

Now, I am not an expert, not even close, about Muslim characters on TV shows; however, even if there had been a popular Muslim character on TV before Brody came along, I just don’t think there is any way she or he could beat him on any popularity scale. Continue reading “Remembering Nicholas Brody and His Muslim Faith”