«My Monte Carlo Festival to bring people back to theaters; there is so much rubbish on the platforms»- Corriere.it

Eleven comedies from all over the world, from Argentina to Ukraine, via Europe and the USA: these are the films in competition and out of competition at the 20th edition of the Montecarlo Film Festival de la Comédie, conceived and directed by Ezio Greggio (scheduled from 24 to 29 April in the Principality of Monaco). «The themes that will dominate are linked to life and death; we choose the films on the basis of the strength of the stories, of how they tell a historical and social moment of a country», explains the presenter of Strip the news. A Festival (also) to combat the cinema crisis: «I agree with Favino: to send people to the cinema you need to make good films. The future of the sector is played out there: quality of the stories and quality of the cinemas. Also because, let’s face it, it’s not always easy to find valuable films on platforms, there’s so much junk».

Comedy was once seen as a B-series genre. Today it has been re-evaluated: «The battle we had with Mario Monicelli (at the time co-founder of the Festival, ed) has cleared the comedy in many manifestations. But I believe that even the many Italian authors who today win important prizes have comedy in their DNA — I am thinking of Sorrentino and Garrone -, great directors who make you think even through laughter… In the times of Scola, Monicelli, Risi, Steno, of Fellini himself, it was easier to tell the country, there was a political situation easier to analyse, the stories were more effective, more representative. Today everything is more complex and fluid, there is also the politically correct, but we don’t give a fuck about it: we are the proponents of politically incorrect and we are proud of it».

The Montecarlo Film Festival de la Comédie is presided over Giancarlo Giannini; next to him, a trio of actors: the French Richard Anconina, the Spanish Nathalie Poza and the Italian Neri Marcorè. Among the winners instead there will be Marco Giallini, Anna Foglietta and Marco D’Amore.

From cinema to recent news. A few days ago Ezio Greggio ended up at the center of controversy after the video appeal to the mother he abandoned little Aeneas in the Cradle for Life of the Mangiagalli clinic in Milan: «A good deed that has been misunderstood; I never said that mothers who adopt aren’t real mothers, in fact they can even be better. Luckily there are adoptions. Unfortunately, this always happens with social media: 95% of the messages saw my appeal favorably, but in the end, the 5% who criticize always make noise. Mine – mind you – was not a political appeal, but a human one».