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Feature   |   English   |  France - Italy (in association with Serein Productions)

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Production Status:  In Development

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Genre:  Action Caper/ Heist

 

Tagline: "Everybody wants a Mona Lisa!"

 

Logline: How many Mona Lisa’s did Leonardo paint? The answers give rise to intrigue, murder, greed, double-cross, mystery and romance in this fast-paced action romantic comedy.

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Writer/Executive Producer: James Farwell

 

Producers: Carol Bidault de l'Isle, Chandu Shah

 

Executive Producers: James Farwell, Frank Hart, Jerry Daigle

 

Countries of production: France - Italy 

 

Duration (in minutes): 90

 

FINANCING IN PLACE: 65% (In Equity and Tax incentives)

 

SYNOPSIS: 

In St. Petersburg, IGOR STRASKOFF, a Russian Oligarch attends a glittering reception hosted by Russian President YURI TITOV in the Hermitage Museum’s Leonardo Room.  Titov is affronted upon discovering that their Mona Lisa is a copy. He finds out that there is a painting potentially painted by Da Vinci himself up for auction and presses Igor to acquire it for Mother Russia. 

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In the meantime, the art world is abuzz with the upcoming Dallier auction of this painting of the Mona Lisa. Can it be an authentic Leonardo? 

 

COMMANDER NICOLE FORTIER, in charge of Antiquities, whose mission is to combat art fraud and theft, meets the elderly MS. GOLDSTEIN who is convinced that the Mona Lisa up for auction is hers, stolen by the Nazis from her family in the 1940’s and she has proof. Nicole visits Dallier Auction House and confronts the director, MARIE DE NOYER and her eccentric and infamous Italian art consultant, GIANCARLO RICCI, and demands that Dallier delay the auction while experts determine whether the Goldstein and Dallier Mona Lisas are the same. Marie pushes back, and Giancarlo, declines to offer a public opinion. The auction proceeds. HANS DIETER, a wealthy German nouveau-riche expatriate, Igor, SOPHIA MAGGIONI and other top art collectors bid furiously against one another. Dieter wins. Having lost at bidding, Igor’s goons steal the painting. Dieter lodges a formal complaint to Nicole and the police, accusing Igor. Police search Igor’s mansion, but find no evidence of the stolen painting. Igor awakens the next morning to discover that the Dallier Mona Lisa her stole, has been burgled from him. He sets his team in motion to locate and obtain, legally or illegally, the Dallier Mona Lisa, or any Mona Lisa for that matter.

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Nicole and Giancarlo pursue different agendas. She cares not whether the Goldstein painting is an authentic Leonardo, only if the Dallier Mona Lisa is the one stolen from the Goldstein family. Giancarlo’s interest is in whether the painting can be attributed to Leonardo. She wants him to stay out of her way as she embarks on a tense investigation to track down the painting. Giancarlo pursues his own sources. Their paths crisscross, heightening tension between them, yet flowering a bond between opposites.

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Igor knows he cannot fail Titov. His future, fortune and his daughter are at stake. He tries to balance aggression with restraint to head off getting kicked out of France. It’s tough sledding. His musclemen thrive on ill-conceived action, while his own expert, KARP, dances around questions as to the authenticity of the Dallier Mona Lisa.

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Inspired by fact, MONA LISA moves swiftly from the toney arrondissements of Paris to a billionaire’s hi-tech Lake Como villa to a mysterious castle in Sicily, we discover exciting mysteries revolving around the enigmatic Mona Lisa, with non-stop action, romance and delight of unpredictable surprises.

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