Sarkozy
As you'd expect from a place synonymous with wealth and glamour, Monaco's fest brings together a wildly diverse array of international celebs, from Saudi Princess Nauf Al Saud -- attending to introduce young artists from the Middle East and to help raise money for MCFF's charities -- to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who'll serve as honorary chairman for this year's event....
But can he cure mumblecore?: Following a luncheon held in his honor on May 15, leading genetic scientist Dr. Daniel Cohen will address the black-tie gala dinner at the Fairmont Hotel the next evening, discussing his "whole-genome" research to locate new genes involved in diseases....
Film-wise, there's a tribute to vet South Korean producer Park Keon-seop, capped by a screening of his 1990 war pic "Nambugun."...
Appropriately, given his matinee-idol good looks, Jean Sarkozy, son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been invited to chair the jury. ...
The fest will unspool new student works from two international film schools: Lebanon's Notre Dame U., situated in the town of El-Louaize, and Dongseo U. in Busan, South Korea. ...
And don't forget your script: U.K. financier ScreenOpus -- a joint venture of Paris' MK2 and Gotham's Severance Pictures, and a sponsor of the fest -- will be on the lookout for new projects to finance.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com