• The Monte-Carlo International Television Festival celebrates its 60th anniversary from June 18 to 23.

  • Darren Star, creator of

    Beverly Hills 90210,

    Melrose Place

    ,

    Sex & The City

    and

    Emily in Paris

    , will receive the Nymph of Honor at the opening ceremony.

  • A look back at the American stars who made the legend of the festival created in 1961 by Prince Rainier III, in homage to his wife Princess Grace.

Sixty editions and not a wrinkle! The Monte-Carlo International Television Festival celebrates its 60th anniversary from June 18 to 23. "This 2021 edition pays tribute to the history of the festival, while preparing for the next decade", summarizes Laurent Puons, deputy vice-president of the festival, who is delighted to "find all the vital forces of the sector after the forced cancellation of last year ". Created in 1961 by Prince Rainier III, in homage to his wife, Princess Grace, the festival welcomes the stars of the international audiovisual landscape every year in the idyllic setting of the Principality of Monaco.

Sanitary restrictions require, we will meet fewer international stars this year than usual at the Grimaldi Forum.

Proof of the close links between the festival and Hollywood, the kickoff of this anniversary edition took place in Los Angeles during an evening organized in February 2020 at the Sunset Tower Hotel with some 250 stars gathered around the honorary president of the event, Prince Albert II.

America will have an ambassador of choice on the Rock this Friday.

Darren Star, creator of

Beverly Hills 90210

,

Melrose Place

,

Sex & The City

and

Emily in Paris

, will receive the Nymph of Honor at the opening ceremony.

Because if all eyes are on the stars of French fiction on the red carpet, from Audrey Fleurot to JoeyStarr via Ingrid Chauvin, it is the American stars who have built the legend of the dean of television festivals.

"My father, Prince Rainier III was a visionary"

"My father, Prince Rainier III was a visionary in anticipating the capacity of television to entertain, to inform, to disseminate knowledge, to create links between cultures throughout the world", writes Prince Albert in the dossier of hurry.

A forerunner, the Monte-Carlo festival "placed the emphasis on television at a time when there was only one for the cinema", abounds the Belgian journalist Sophie Lagesse of 

Soir Magazine.

"Television must become this new art which is introduced everywhere", prophesies Prince Rainier at the launch of the festival in 1961, explaining that he wanted the Golden Nymphs "to come and reward quality".

"In Monaco, stars and glamor go hand in hand"

“In Monaco, stars and glamor go hand in hand, launches Lubie, the founder of Lubie in series.

Meeting international celebrities in a magical place is one of the reasons for its success.

"

From the first edition, Maria Callas meets Gene Kelly while Yul Brynner is honored.

Faced with the couple formed by Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, "for the first time, Hollywood stars are turning into fans," said Alessandra De Tommasi, Italian journalist and founder of Air Quotes.

The 1960s were the era of soap operas such as

My Beloved Witch, The Mysteries of the West

or

Thierry la Fronde

, but also announcers like Denise Fabre, Jacqueline Huet and Anne-Marie Peysson, in the spotlight. on the Rock.

Jane Fonda, Martine Carol, Jean Seberg, Sophia Loren, Carlo Ponti, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Marcel Pagnol, Jean-Christophe Averty, Goscinny, and Léon Zitrone… All the elites flock to this first mecca of world television in January.

At the gala, broadcast on Eurovision live on TMC and delayed in Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and France, Marlène Dietrich sings, Gina Lollobrigida applauds.

The 5th edition receives a preview of color programs and provides demonstrations of the French SECAM process.

Spielberg, a promising young director

In the 1970s, in the era of

formula shows,

Prince Rainier and Princess Grace notably welcomed Patrick McNee with his bowler hat, the burglar gentleman Georges Descrières alias

Arsène Lupine

, the Saint Roger Moore, the

iron man

Raymond Burr , lawyer also of

Perry Mason

, the famous Eliot Ness Robert Stack or Karl Maden of the

Streets of San Francisco.

In 1972, we note that a special mention was awarded to a promising young director, Steven Spielberg, for his TV movie

Duel

.

Following the creation of the first night-time soap

Dallas

, the Rock welcomes John Frankenheimer, Fanny Ardant, Jeanne Moreau, Mel Ferrer and James Coburn.

And all those who make French TV: Michel Denisot, Michel Drucker, Armand Jammot, Patrice Laffont, Yves Mourousi or even Etienne Mougeotte.

Always at the forefront of innovations, it was also in 1984 in the presence of its president, Ted Turner, that the American channel TBS made its broadcast live from Monaco thanks to the first round-trip satellite transmission between the Principality and Atlanta in Georgia.

The screening of "Twin Peaks" makes a big splash

In 1989, Prince Albert took over the presidency of the festival.

Robert Altman, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Holly Hunter, Sidney Lumet, Irvin Kershner, Shirley Bassey and Géraldine Chaplin will be there in the 1990s. The new stars of the French PAF like Jean-Pierre Pernaut, Caroline Tresca, Julien Lepers, Daniela Lumbroso, Jean-Pierre Foucault, Bernard Rapp, too.

In the early 1990s, David Lynch's press conference and world premiere of

Twin Peaks,

ABC Television's latest production, caused a stir.

The cops invade the Rock.

We meet

Derrick

(Horst Tappert), commissioners

Navarro

(Roger Hanin) and

Julie Lescaut

(Véronique Genest), sergeant Cory McNamara of

Pacific Blue

(Paula Trickey).

Dick Wolf, the creator of

Law and Order

, becomes a regular.

In the middle of the 1990s, festival-goers rejoiced in front of George Clooney who came to talk about Doug Ross, the

emergency

pediatrician

.

The stars of the soaps are also a sensation with fans like Lauralee Bell and Michael Damian alias Danny and Cricket of the

Young and the Restless

or Marcy Walker alias Eden in

Santa Barbara

.

The 2000s and the coronation of the series

With

The Sopranos, The Wire

or

Mad Men

, television series finally acquire their letters of nobility. The

Funny Ladies

Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith, 

Doctor Quinn

Jane Seymour, the unforgettable David Vincent Roy Thinnes, the

Amicement Your

Roger Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bo Derek, Brigitte Fossey, Nadine and Marie Trintignant, illuminate the 40th edition.

Carried by the confidence of the American studios, the event welcomes the casts of the greatest successes from across the Atlantic.

Glee, Dr House, Game of Thrones, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, The Handmaid's Tales

… The list of guests in Monte-Carlo over the past twenty years is much longer than the red carpet that the stars tread.

“Speaking with the actors, directors and screenwriters, we realize that Monte-Carlo has a glamorous aura apart.

They may be used to luxury, there is something in this mixture of European chic, ostentatious and festive atmosphere that visibly makes them want to come and return ”, analyzes Céline Fion, who works in particular for the Belgian media

L'Avenir

 and

Femmes d'Aujourd'hui

.

"People can see in flesh and blood the performers of the characters"

If "the festival has made time its ally", as Laurent Puons welcomes, it does not fall asleep on its laurels.

"The festival continues to anticipate in a relevant way, including all kinds of platforms and networks", underlines Alessandra De Tommasi.

Over the years, the festival has also opened up widely to the public.

“People can see in the flesh the performers of the characters they so often invite into their living rooms.

I have the impression that it's more intimate in the relationship than a film festival, ”says Céline Fion.

"The best place for series interviews"

The VIPs parade non-stop in front of the microphones of the international media every year.

"You can interview many personalities in a short time, who themselves are enjoying the event and are in a good mood," said Nanna Drumond, journalist from

Aller Finland

.

“As a journalist, Monte-Carlo is the best place for series interviews.

Because it's so well organized that you can do a lot of interviews in a few days, ”congratulates Dutch journalist Michelle Mansfield.

“Perfect combination of glamor and content”, according to Alessandra De Tommasi.

The Monte-Carlo festival is “a living tribute to the great artistic and personal heritage of Princess Grace in these two lives, as an actress and as the Princess of Monaco,” she continues.

After 60 years of competition, thousands of hours of programming, a host of stars and kilometers of red carpet, the legend of the American star turned princess still shines brightly in Monaco.

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  • Series

  • Monte Carlo TV Festival

  • Prince Albert II

  • Grace of Monaco