A webcam in Cannes has captured the stunning footage of a large meteorite crossing the skies above the south of France on the weekend.
The yearly phenomenon was visible in the French Riviera and was captured on video in Cannes by the webcam on Quai Laubeuf. The fireball crossed from east to west, appearing to fall behind the Esterel.
La #météorite française observée par des milliers de témoins dans le triangle Narbonne-Lyon-Italie a été capturée par la webcam du Quai Laubeuf de Cannes !
— Dr. Serge Zaka (Dr. Zarge) (@SergeZaka) April 24, 2021
NASA France reposted the webcam footage on its Instagram account, saying “A meteor burning in the atmosphere was seen around 10:26pm in the south of #France.”
The meteorite was also captured crossing the sky above Saint Tropez.
The meteor was part of the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower, which is usually active between 16th and 25th April every year and peaks at around 22nd or 23rd. The meteor shower is visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres, but is much more active in the northern where the meteor’s radiant is high in the sky.
Named after constellation Lyra, the Lyrids are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers. According to some historical Chinese texts, the shower was seen over 2,500 years ago. The fireballs in the meteor shower are created by debris from comet Thatcher, which takes about 415 years to orbit around the sun. The comet is expected to be visible from earth again in 2276.
Meteor showers occur when the earth crosses the path of a comet, colliding with a trail of comet crumbs. As they burn up in earth’s atmosphere, the meteors leave bright streaks in the sky commonly referred to as shooting stars.
Photo by Daniel Ruy on Meteo Côte d’Azur Twitter
Interview: Award winning actress, screenwriter and producer Kelly O’Sullivan
Monaco Life, in partnership with the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, is proud to present a monthly series highlighting the lives and artistic work of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA’s illustrious award winners. In this month’s exclusive interview, Princess Grace Foundation’s CEO Brisa Carleton catches up with Kelly O’Sullivan, a Chicago-based actress who wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed film Saint Frances. Brisa and Kelly discuss how she discovered her passion for theatre, turning that passion into a career, and Kelly’s dream conversation with Princess Grace of Monaco.
Kelly O’Sullivan graduated from the prestigious Northwestern University, whose fellow alumni include Warren Beatty, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and steadily made a name for herself in the Chicago theatre scene, working with acclaimed theatre companies like Steppenwolf Theatre and the Goodman Theatre.
She wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed film Saint Frances, receiving the South by Southwest (SXSW) Audience and Special Jury Award. For her performance, Kelly was additionally nominated for a Gotham Award. While the film’s February 2020 release date was disrupted by the pandemic, it was released on streaming platforms and has become one of the most beloved sleeper hits of the past year. Brisa Carleton: Can you tell us about how you discovered your love of performing?
Kelly O’Sullivan: When I was in kindergarten, my teacher recommended that my mom take me to audition for this local children’s theatre. I think she saw that I was naturally expressive and that I loved to play pretend. The first play I ever did was Little Women at the Children’s Theatre in Arkansas. I played one of the kids who dies of scarlet fever. I loved the drama of it, and I also just loved the team aspect. I wasn’t a sports kid, but I think theatre and the fine arts are like a sport for people who aren’t athletic – you still get that sense of working for something greater than yourself and all trying to accomplish the same goal. It was really transformative for me because I grew up going to a Catholic school, but the theatre exposed me to friends who were gay and out in North Little Rock, Arkansas. That was very impactful; I was raised with this sense of open mindedness and collaboration that I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere. Growing up as a theatre kid, what was it that made you decide you wanted to pursue it professionally?
I just loved it so much. My parents were really hoping that it was going to be a hobby. I wanted to go to Northwestern, and I knew that a bunch of really successful actors came out of that program, but also that it wasn’t a conservatory so that I could come out with a full education. Once I got to Northwestern, seeing the number of theatre majors committed to being professional actors made me feel like it wasn’t such a crazy dream to have. You won your Princess Grace Award in 2014. Where were you in your career at that point and what did winning that award mean to you?
It meant everything to me. It felt like a huge validation – and also a life raft and a ladder. It was so many things at once because I had been working steadily in theatre but was still struggling to not have to work additional jobs. I really wanted to start moving into directing, not just acting. The funds from the Princess Grace Award meant I didn’t have to have additional jobs that year and I could act as assistant director to the artistic director at American Theatre Company while still acting in several plays that year. It gave me a chance to fully be an artist and to take risks. Outside of that practicality, it gives you validation and a sense of worthiness. The Princess Grace Award made me say there are people who believe in me and I should keep going down this path. The year that I won, Oscar Isaac received the Princess Grace Statue Award. There was something about being in the same room as him and having someone to look at and aspire to, and think, OK, I’m in the right circle of people. It does feel like a huge ladder – it helps you keep taking the next step up, and the next step up, and see where you want to head. Photo of a scene out of Saint Frances Along those lines, Grace Kelly, when she was coming up the ladder in Hollywood, famously auditioned hundreds of times – as everyone does – before she got her first acting role. How do you deal with that? How do you have the stamina to deal with what it takes to be a working actor? I consider it to be one of the hardest jobs in entertainment.
For me, it’s those little moments of validation when somebody turns to you and says, “You’re worth it, keep going”. That can be in the form of getting a job or it can even be in the form of a casting director saying “You’re not going to get this part, but you did wonderful work”. It also gets easier when you’re on the other side of the table; when I started being a reader for auditions and directing, I saw that just because somebody doesn’t get the part doesn’t mean they’re not incredible, and you will remember them for the next time and right opportunity for them. Your film Saint Francis has been getting all the awards and rave reviews yet this is actually your first big writing and starring project. What brought you to want to take on both of those roles?
I was feeling a bit frustrated with the jobs that I was being presented with and the roles that I was auditioning for. The roles that I was auditioning for in theatre, I had sort of hit this weird in-between where I wasn’t an ingenue and I wasn’t exactly the mom. I wanted to write something for myself that felt like a role that I could inhabit fully, that I could have agency and control over, because I think one of the hardest things about being an actor is you don’t have a lot of agency unless you’re a famous movie star. There’s very little choosing involved. This was my first feature, but also create a role for myself that I knew that I would love to play – I didn’t know that we would get to make it or that it would be well-received, but I wanted to have more agency in my creative life. What was it like when it launched at the SXSW Film Festival and then immediately took off? I imagined right before that it must have been pretty scary to have this piece that is so much of you launching into the world.
It was incredibly scary. I remember the first mini review we got was positive and it felt like I exhaled for the first time in six months. Then getting to premiere at SXSW and having the support of the Executive Director of the festival felt like a huge validation as well, because it’s a legit festival. It’s made for films like St. Francis, which are scrappy but full of heart. And when it started to be embraced in larger and larger ways, it felt shocking because it felt just like this little thing that we made in Chicago, away from the Hollywood machine, away from New York – we made it in the North suburbs of Chicago. It felt like the biggest gift in the world, that people were paying attention and taking it seriously and not dismissing it.
So where does this all take you next?
Well, luckily, it got US agents – we signed with William Morris Endeavor – and now we’re able to meet with people. I’ve written another feature that has just signed on with a producer who has done some of my favourite indies and so, again, it was the next step on the ladder where you slowly build your career from tiny step to tiny step and it feels like this was a really important one because it got us noticed by people whose job it is to make the kind of movies that we love. We have access to rooms that we never had access to before. If you could sit down with Grace Kelly as a fellow female artist, what would you want to ask her or talk to her about?
I recently watched Rear Window. She is so incredible in a film that is such a traditionally Hitchcock film. He is, of course, known as being this huge personality, but she not only holds her own, she also brings such a layered performance to that film and all of her performances are so layered. She was obviously beautiful, and she has such a grace to her, but there was something about watching her climb that fire escape in heels and a dress and be like she’s so much more than just beauty. I’d love to talk to her about what it was like to make movies like that, and be in Hollywood as a young, gorgeous woman. How did she keep going in moments of uncertainty or even what those moments were like for her. She’s such an icon but getting to know the human behind that and the vulnerabilities, I would just love to hear. Any final words for the Monaco community and on Princess Grace?
I think that Princess Grace is somebody who I keep re-examining again and again and keep finding nuance in her performances. I’m so interested in her generosity and her family’s generosity. Giving young artists validation, both in practical ways and a spiritual way, really affects the course of the rest of our careers because we’re always looking for that next lifeboat. Sometimes it feels like we’re sort of drowning in a moment in our careers, and it makes all the difference in the world. It’s been incredibly impactful to me and I’m so grateful for it.
Applications are now open for the fourth edition of the Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge in June, giving young entrepreneurial environmentalists a chance to create a business tackling the problems faced by the oceans.
The Monaco Ocean Protection Challenge is a business concept pitching competition organised by the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, the International University of Monaco, Monaco Impact and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. It began in 2018 as a way to involve young people in creating sustainable businesses centred on ocean protection and awareness.
This year’s competition takes the theme ‘When Circular Economy Saves the Ocean’ and is open to university undergraduates, post-bachelor students and young entrepreneurs who are five years or less out of school, and who have or will have a company created after January 2020. Competitors must be English speakers who have ideas that will positively impact the seas and are willing to participate in the implementation of their ideas if selected by the jury.
To be considered, the applicant submits a business plan, a timeline of milestones in project development and a one minute video presenting the concept by 7th May.
Jurists are looking for plans that have been well-researched and relevant to today’s markets, as well as projects that can be globally implemented and that have a “measurable impact” on the oceans.
The prize and awards include a yearly induction and networking programme for the student’s category, and a check of €15,000 for the start-up’s category.
In May, jurists will choose three finalist teams from each category. The six finalist teams will be invited to Monaco for the finals on 16th June where they will be asked to present their plans intended to make the world a better place to live.
Previous winners include Elynn Yaoting Liu, who found a way to address inflatable balloon pollution, and Juan Felipe del Campo Guerreo and Julien Piveteau who created a phone case made of recycled ocean waste.
Prince Albert will join an exceptional line up of speakers, including teenage activist Greta Thunberg and Pope Francis, for a digital Earth Day summit on Thursday. Here is how you can stream the event live.
To celebrate and raise awareness for the 51st Earth Day on Thursday 22nd April, earthday.org has gathered a diverse lineup of activists, global leaders, musicians, educators, industry leaders, influencers and artists from around the world for the second annual digital livestream event. Discussions, performances, presentations and films will explore the innovative and powerful solutions to ‘Restore Our Earth’.
‘Earth Day Live: Restore Our Earth’ will be streamed live at 12pm ET (6pm Monaco time) on Thursday via earthday.org, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and GEM-TV, a streaming platform founded in Monaco.
The virtual event will be hosted by Founder of Earth Uprising and Youth Climate Activist Alexandria Villaseñor, and Milana Vayntrub, Actress, Comedian, Writer and Director.
As a part of Earthday.org’s partnership with TED Countdown, the digital event will include three original TED Countdown Talks by John Marshall, Cory Combs and Rumaitha Al Busaidi. The program will also feature segments from Education International’s Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit, Hip Hop Caucus’ We Shall Breathe virtual summit, as well as Earth Uprising’s Youth Speaks Summit.
“For over half a century, hundreds of millions of people from around the globe have taken political and volunteer action on Earth Day, yet multiple accelerating environmental and health crises continue to envelop our planet, impacting everyone but particularly the poor and vulnerable who live among us,” said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday.org. “On behalf of the one billion people who will take part in Earth Day this year, even in the midst of a second year of the pandemic, we demand that the talking stop and that governments and corporations commit to net-zero emissions by 2040 with an interim goal of cutting emissions in half by 2030. Anything less will deprive our children of their right to inherit a habitable planet.”
Among this year’s powerful lineup are Prince Albert II of Monaco, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Actress and Producer Kristen Bell, Award-Winning Conservationist, Photographer and Author Chris Packham, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Ibrahim Thiaw, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Youth Climate Activist Greta Thunberg, and Pope Francis.
For more information on Earth Day Live and Earth Day 2021, visit: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/
The Metropole Hotel has swung open its doors in spectacular style with a picture-perfect floral installation that immerses guests in the vibrance and beauty of spring. Monaco Life was there for a sneak peak of the lobby’s new showpiece ahead of the hotel reopening on Wednesday.
After closing for a major backhouse renovation in late 2020, the Metropole Hotel reopened its revolving doors on Wednesday with a stunning celebration of the season – a floral scene that is designed to mesmerise guests but which also, perhaps unwittingly, represents the new life that is being breathed into the 135-year-old hotel.
“We have just reopened the hotel after the first of three renovations, which took place completely in the back of house,” Managing Director Serge Ethuin told Monaco Life. “There is nothing new to show our guests who have been anxiously awaiting our reopening, so it was incredibly important that our artistic directors create something very strong, where our guests can feel part of the mood we are trying to evoke, that they become immersed in the decoration. And I think we have reached our objective.”
Photo of the entrance floral display at the Hotel Metropole, by Studio Phenix
The display begins in the entrance hall where, below the hotel’s elegant chandelier, a flower-laden wooden window frames the lobby like a scene straight out of a Disney fairy tale.
The lobby itself is an explosion of colour, with cherry blossoms, orchids and hydrangeas delicately embracing a wooden swing upon which guests can sit and snap their perfect Instagram pic.
The story continues on the backwall, with a forest of green and pink. It is an oasis of tranquillity and is, arguably, the hotel’s finest floral installation to date.
A family passion
The display was created by Monegasque company Roni, a family business of four generations whose works are commissioned for celebrity events, luxury hotels and exclusive restaurants throughout the world.
Passion, creativity and an eye for detail have been handed down the generations to Nicolas Barelier, who serves as Artistic Director, alongside his siblings Emmanuel, Jean-Marie and Audrey.
The installation at the Metropole Hotel is a seamless blend of fresh and silk flowers, which were handmade especially for this project. Remarkably, it took just three days to complete the display.
“We are honoured to return to the Metropole Hotel,” Nicolas Barelier told Monaco Life. “They are the only ones who really let us imagine what we want, which is very important. The concept this year is clearly spring, but we want it to say: ‘Welcome to the Hotel Metropole. Take a seat, and have your picture taken.”
Nicolas (top) and Emmanuel Barelier (bottom) of Roni, photo by Monaco Life
The extravagant display will not only be admired by hotel guests but also customers who have eagerly awaited the reopening of Michelin-starred restaurant Yoshi.
“I have guests who love Yoshi so much they have booked the restaurant three times for the next week or so,” revealed Serge Ethuin. “We are delighted, because in these first days, when our international and French customers cannot come to eat in Monegasque restaurants, we can welcome our regulars, our locals… so we are reopening almost for the family. It’s fantastic.”
In addition to the award-winning Japanese restaurant, the hotel’s bar and its terrace have also reopened, as well as room service for hotel guests. However, the French restaurant and the Odyssey restaurant surrounding the pool will remain closed because of health restrictions.
Behind closed doors
The five-month renovation has completely revamped the kitchens of the hotel, reinvigorating Chef Christophe Cussac and his team.
“People do not see what has been done in the back of house, but it is a revolution for our teams, it is so exciting,” Chef Cussac told Monaco Life, adding that guests can expect some new dishes among the tried-and-tested signature plates of the restaurant because, “our customers who come regularly will have missed our dishes.”
After securing their dream kitchens, Chef Cussac and his team are now anxiously awaiting the second phase of renovation which will reconceptualise all of the restaurants.
“We know that there are still two phases coming, especially in the restaurants and guest rooms, and I am already projecting myself there,” said the chef. “Then we will do something different, a completely different concept with the restaurant itself.”
Metropole Hotel Managing Director Serge Ethuin and Executive Chef Christophe Cussac, by Monaco Life
Opening at half capacity
As one of only a handful of palaces in Monaco, the intimate Metropole Hotel should be reopening to a full list of bookings during the event-heavy month of May. However, with travel restrictions still in place and audience numbers heavily reduced, the hotel’s figures have been drastically reduced.
“We are more than 60% behind the number of bookings of the last Historic Grand Prix of Monaco, which was three years ago,” said the hotel managing director. “But we are happy because our opening is good for the destination, for the image of Monaco, and it is good for us.”
For the fast-approaching Monaco Grand Prix in late May, Mr Ethuin says the hotel is 40% booked. “We have adjusted our strategy to allow people to stay for a shorter period as opposed to the four-day minimum. So, we may be full on the Saturday and Sunday, and at least that is good news.”
Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo
Phase two
The original plan was to close the hotel again in October 2021 for phase two of the renovation, the largest stage that would tackle all of the bedrooms, the creation of new exceptional suites, and the refurbishment of restaurants, the lobby bar and banqueting rooms over a period of six months.
However, because of the Covid epidemic, the strategy has changed.
“We will not close at all this year anymore,” revealed Mr Ethuin. “We are reducing the second closure as much as possible to perhaps only the month of January or February. As a result, we might have to close for a third time, but again it will be for a very short period of time with as few disruptions to our guests as possible. Our strategy is changing, but fundamentally we want to stay in business as much as possible for our local and international market.”
This year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival will host the premiere screening of Lion’s, Bones and Bullets, a hard-hitting animal rights documentary that reveals the underbelly of what the world thinks is ‘lion trophy hunting’ but, in reality, is the mass production, commercialisation and domestication of Africa’s wildlife for “traditional Chinese medicine”.
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is known for being a showcase for talented entertainment-industry professionals who have, over the past 60 years, created some of history’s most successful TV programmes.
But it also puts the spotlight on more serious, environmental topics. This year it is animal rights, namely, the exploitation of lions on the African subcontinent that are being cruelly raised for slaughter to make traditional Chinese “medicines” and potions.
A documentary entitled Lions, Bones and Bullets, produced by Jagged Peak Films, will be premiered in June at the Monte Carlo Television Festival through a collaboration between the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Festival organisers. It will be screened at the Grimaldi Forum.
Told through an adventure story, producer and investigator Richard Pierce travels from lion farms in South Africa to dealers in Southeast Asia “to uncover the elaborate wildlife con”. After presenting the problem, the film explores realistic alternatives.
“Lion farming and the increasing sale of lion bones to Asia involve exploitation, cruelty, injustice, misconception, fraud and corruption and is a threat to wild lion populations,” says Richard Pierce. “It is mind-blowing in terms of the huge negativity involved and it has no redeeming aspects. Lions are a flagship species. What happens to lion populations will be a major factor in determining the future of wild animals in Africa.”
The investigative documentary claims to uncover an elaborate international wildlife industry worth nearly US$100 million a year. Producers say it reveals, for the first time, the link between lion farming on an industrial scale in South Africa, and the growing demand and utilisation of lion bones in Southeast Asia.
“Lions, Bones and Bullets is a story that needed to be told,” says Executive Producer Anton Leach. “I realised not enough people know that lion farming is not just an emerging industry, it is a booming industry.
“We are honoured to have the world festival premier at the 60th Monte-Carlo Television Festival and believe this is the best forum to start a global debate about lion farming and the future of wildlife conservation.” Lions, Bones and Bullets has benefited from support by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
“By denouncing the lion bones trade hidden behind hunting, it is a clear and vital wake-up call that is sent to the world, inviting us to open our eyes and rethink our relationship with nature in the respect of wildlife,” says Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the Prince Albert II Foundation. Lions, Bones and Bullets will premiere on Monday 21st June at 7pm at the Grimaldi Forum during the Television Festival.
“Our Festival has always put environmental issues at the forefront, notably through the Prince Rainier III Special Prize, awarded to the best documentary dealing with these topics,” says Laurent Puons, CEO of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “We are convinced that this important screening will expose the secrets of the multi-million-dollar industry of lion farming to the world and open up a wide-scale ethical debate on the issue.”
Photo from the documentary Lions, Bones and Bullets
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