CANNES — The Cannes Film Festival red carpet has been filled with Oscar winners and high fashion moments, but the amfAR gala unspooled with one of the biggest stars of the week as Cher hit the stage.
The annual Cinema Against AIDS gala leaned into its moniker with a theater-themed set erected in the garden of the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Guests entered under a marquee with Cher’s name under the neon lights.
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A film and fashion crowd made up the scene, which included a very theatrical fashion show curated by Carine Roitfeld. Looks inspired by fairy tales were complete with crowns, bunny ears and other costumes.
Tommy Hilfiger is a regular at amfAR, not only to support the good cause but to mark the beginning of summer. “It’s the start of the season,” said Hilfiger, who will hit up the F1 Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday before embarking on travel around the Mediterranean.
He’s fresh off the Met Gala, where he dressed the K-pop group Stray Kids. “They are so cool. They’re amazing. I listened to [their albums] because we’re really engaged with them, and they’re incredibly talented,” he said. “And they’re true gentlemen.”
Asked if the octet taught him any dance moves, he demurred. “When Ariana Grande got on stage, they all got up out of their seats and started dancing. And everyone was watching their moves. They are great dancers.”
He was arm-in-arm with Judith Leiber chief creative officer Jana Matheson, who was carrying a clutch version of a 1980s cell phone in the brand’s bedazzled style. It’s big and bulky in the tech of the time, but can’t even fit an iPhone inside, she joked. Matheson opened the clutch to reveal an array of lip glosses, but no communication device.
Ami Paris designer Alexandre Mattiussi sat with Roitfeld as they watched the fashion show from a table next to the stage. He had a look of embroidered gold jeans on the runway, from his fall 2024 collection. Roitfeld hand-picked the style from his January runway for the amfAR fashion show as they fit in with her theme of “fairy tales.”
Mattiussi was also on hand in Cannes for the premiere of Celine Sallette’s “Niki,” starring Charlotte Le Bon. “It’s the first time I coproduced personally [a feature film], and I was very happy because we had a 10-minute standing ovation today,” he said.
The film premiered Thursday in the Un Certain Regard competition section. Mattiussi has long dreamed of dipping into film; last year he coproduced the short film “Dammi.”
“Cinema has always been a very strong position in my inspiration, and I just feel like I am meeting so many actors and actresses and directors for all these years, I’m just inspired by them. I love the world of cinema. I love the idea that movies stay forever. A collection is just one season,” he said.
He wants to step behind the camera soon. “I am changing. I turned 43, about to turn 44 in June. Fashion is my first love, I can say my first wife, but cinema is very emotional for me and I hope to direct someday.”
Andie MacDowell is a Cannes regular, but usually sticks to the red carpet for L’Oréal. She made sure to make this year’s amfAR event to see Cher. Turns out she’s not only a fan, but they are friends back in L.A.
“I don’t usually tell people, but yeah — and she’s fabulous. She’s so nice. She’s into Buddhism and she has exposed me to that, and we work out together. She’s in great shape and she’s energetic. She’s super smart but very down to earth,” MacDowell said.
Paris Jackson, who has attended many amfAR events in Los Angeles, recognized the stunning setting. “The French do it better,” she joked.
She is taking a few days’ break from filming “One Spoon of Chocolate” opposite Blair Underwood. She wrapped a world tour for her music last fall.
“I’ve been acting here and there for a few years, but it is really a direction I’m going in,” she said. But she barely had a second to chat between the swarm of photographers and fans asking for selfies.
The singer, actress and front row regular attended the opening garden party in a sculptural gown from the Simone Rocha for Jean Paul Gaultier collection, and took to the stage later in a Rick Owens midriff slashed dress, styled by Mikiel Benyamin.
She arrived on the arm of model Jordan Barrett, who proved to be a pro and directed the photographers on how to capture the best light.
Michelle Rodriguez was in a pale pink beaded gown, but she said it was divergent from her usual style.
“I don’t know anything about this s–t. I mean, the feminine stuff, like I’m horrible at it,” she joked. She credited stylist Jessica Paster with selecting the outfit for the evening.
The actress had a busy 2023 with two big action films released. While she is taking a break from front-of-camera work before filming the next installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, she plans to get her production company Cheshire Kat moving.
“Everything’s changing right now [in the film industry]. It’s happening so fast. I’ve had the [company] for eight years and never done anything with it,” she said. “I’m getting older, I can’t just keep doing the same s–t. I’m gonna switch it up and bring some of my human experience into Hollywood. I think younger than most Hollywood execs do, and I think right now we need a little bit of new blood.”
The event’s guest list this year was notably Leonardo DiCaprio-free, as the amfAR regular and his crew skipped this year’s bash.
The man of the night was Christian Levett, the collector behind the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the world’s only museum dedicated exclusively to women artists. He snapped up many of the art pieces, and dedicated a Damien Hirst for auction.
Other items pulled in big bucks. A triptych of Cher portraits by Mert & Marcus went for 125,000 euros, while a package of an autographed copy of her 1982 Interview magazine cover and dinner with the star in Malibu went for 150,000 euros.
A walk-on role in the (not yet officially announced) season five of “Emily in Paris” went for 250,000 euros.
A pair of Chopard earrings, previously worn by Demi Moore, fetched 400,000 euros, while the collection of designer looks that replicated costumes from fairy tales went for 500,000 euros.
The common theme of the evening from each celebrity who took to the stage seemed mostly to shush the raucous crowd. From Sarah Ferguson telling the crowd to “be quiet, because this was my mother-in-law,” before auctioning off a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II to Colman Domingo stopping his speech with Kelly Rowland to start again with, “Hello amfAR. We got dressed up for you tonight so pay attention,” it was a running issue.
Moore, the official host of the evening, was most forceful, admonishing the loud crowd with: “Are you an Emmy winner in the back of the room? I don’t f–king think so.”
Nick Jonas performed his hit song “Jealous,” followed by some oldies, including Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” He told the audience he will play Valli in an upcoming film, and then pulled his brother Joe on stage for his hit “Cake by the Ocean.”
Cher showed her energy on stage with a greatest hits set that got the crowd to its feet and singing along with every word. Moore introduced her, citing the singer as “my hair inspiration.”
The performer started with a baggy bedazzled ensemble of cargo pants and a blazer for “Walking in Memphis,” and “Waterloo.” After a quick costume change, she stunned the audience by appearing in an updated version of her “If I Could Turn Back Time” bodysuit, complete with cutouts and thigh-high garters.
The icon relayed a story about her first amfAR 28 years ago, when Elizabeth Taylor called her up to ask for moral support to calm her nerves before going on stage. She also shared how she made a musical comeback at the age of 50.
“One day my manager, who was my best friend, came in and said, ‘You know my self-esteem is too sewed up in your talent and I don’t believe in you anymore.’ And I was thinking, ‘F–k me.’ So then I was like, I don’t know what to do,” she said. But British producers were willing to take a chance on her with a dance pop album, and the result was one of her greatest hits.
She launched into “Believe,” which had every person in the room, including Rodriguez, models Karolina Kurkova and Barbara Palvin, actor Alton Mason, Chopard copresident Caroline Scheufele and Saudi film producer Mohammed Al Turki on their feet and belting out the words. It was a sing-a-long for the ages, before guests descended to the poolside bar for the official afterparty, while others escaped to a private villa in the hills.
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