The next in our series of writers drawing attention to their favourite comfort films looks back to a funny and touching documentary from 1999

“I was a failure and I get very sad and depressed about it. I really feel like I betrayed myself. Big time. When I was growing up, I had all the potential in the world. Now I’m back to being Mark with a beer in his hand who is thinking about the great American script and the great American movie. This time I cannot fail. I will not fail.”

As far as opening monologues go, you couldn’t have scripted a more perfect introduction to a film that captures one of the purest pursuits of the American Dream ever set to film. But these were not written for a character, but instead straight from the heart of Mark Borchardt in a 1999 documentary. It’s rare that documentaries are associated with feelgood movies, which is odd because they are remarkable vehicles for generating warmth, empathy and humor from spending time in the company of real life people who you grow to like. And I utterly adore spending time with these people.

A century after André Breton invented Exquisite Corpse artists are using it to tap into something unexplored

Some time in the winter of 1925-1926, the French author André Breton and his comrades Yves Tanguy, Jacques Prévert and Marcel Duchamp invented an old-fashioned parlour game. You write a word on a piece of paper, then fold it over so the next person can’t see what you’ve written, and you end up with a strange sentence. The game is now known as Exquisite Corpse, after the result of their first go: Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau (The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine).

Exquisite Corpse gave Breton so much joy because it summed up the essence of the surrealist school of art he was trying to articulate at the time. In his first 1924 manifesto, he told budding surrealists to put themselves in “as passive, or receptive, a state of mind” as they can and write quickly. Forget about talent, about subject, about perception or punctuation. Simply trust, he writes, “in the inexhaustible nature of the murmur”.

Stephen Morgan, the early education minister, would not confirm every child who has an EHCP would continue to keep the same provisions

The majority of UK households are feeling financially secure, with 70% of people confident enough to plan a summer holiday, according to a survey. PA Media reports:

The number of people feeling financially secure has risen this quarter by three percentage points to 58%, while confidence that the UK economy is improving has risen to 17% from one in 10 three months ago, the KPMG Consumer Pulse poll found.

The survey of 3,000 UK adults, taken in early June, found 50% feel able to spend freely, although 14% say they are still having to actively cut their discretionary spending to pay for essentials, and 3% of are incurring debt to do so …

US ceasefire proposal, pursued by Trump, appears to be failing to make any further progress

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now responded to the overnight attacks on Ukraine, ramping up pressure on the US and European allies to help with air defence systems.

“We very much expect that our partners will fulfil everything we agreed on. Air defence is the main thing for protecting life,” he said.

We would like to hear from young people aged between 18-25 about their experiences of living in coastal towns around the UK

The Guardian is launching a year-long reporting series, Against The Tide, that will put young people at the forefront. For the past six months we have been travelling to port towns and seaside resorts around England to discover how younger people feel about the places they live and what changes would enable them to build the futures they want. We will continue our reporting over the next 12 months.

Are you aged between 18-25 and live in a coastal town around England? What’s it like living there? What are the bonuses and also the challenges? How do seasons affect your experience? If you’re a parent or work with young people, please get in touch.

Midfielder has shown with Real Sociedad and Spain that he combines calm and control with a capacity to tackle

The way Martín Zubimendi remembers it, the day he was given the chance to be a ballboy for Real Sociedad against Manchester United he was more nervous than when he had to play. Standing at the side of the pitch, he found himself transfixed, the game flying by. So transfixed, in fact, that he forgot it was his job to pass the ball to the players and at one point Claudio Bravo, in goal that night at Anoeta, had to come over and take it off him because he was standing there watching. It was the first time it had happened to him; it would also be the last.

If there is anything that defines Arsenal’s new midfielder, it is that he is so calm, so in control. “He oozes assuredness from every pore,” says the Spain coach, Luis de la Fuente. “He doesn’t get nervous walking a tightrope with no safety net.” When he’s out there, games don’t just go by; they usually go where he wants them to. And as for passes, what he forgot to do that night defines him now: there were 1,752 of them in La Liga last season. No midfielder outside Real Madrid or Barcelona played more.