Showbiz

James Franco, Gus Van Sant to teach free art class

Published Friday, Jul 29 2011, 14:52 BST | By Justin Harp | 1 comment

James Franco with the Independent Spirit Award he picked up for 'Best Male Lead' at Saturday's ceremony in Los Angeles

James Franco and Milk director Gus Van Sant will teach a Master Class at New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Franco and Van Sant have signed on to lead students in a "new conversation [about] contemporary practice with artists, authors, musicians, curators, theorists and scholars" as part of MOMA's Summer School programme.

The pair will also premiere their new experimental film My Own Private River, which is comprised of unused footage featuring the late River Phoenix from Van Sant's award-winning 1991 film My Own Private Idaho.

Van Sant and Franco's free MOMA Master Class kicks off in August.

Franco will return to soap opera General Hospital in September to reprise his role of serial killer Robert 'Franco' Frank.

His next feature film Rise of the Planet of the Apes is released in US cinemas on August 5 and in the UK on August 12.

> James Franco: 'It's cool people think I'm gay'

Watch a trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes below: