AmFar Gala At Cannes, Hosted By Sharon Stone, Raises Millions For AIDS Research

The AmFar Cinema Against AIDS gala, a perennial staple of the Cannes Film Festival, celebrated its 20^th anniversary by raising nearly $25 million for AIDS research.

Sharon Stone, taking over from the late Elizabeth Taylor, hosted the event at the French Riviera’s Hotel Du Cap, which overlooks the sea. In attendance were some of film’s biggest names, including Harvey Weinstein, Nicole Kidman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jessica Chastain, Christoph Waltz and more. Janet Jackson, a longtime AIDS prevention and research advocate, chaired the event.

Among the items auctioned off at the 20^th Cinema Against AIDS gala were a 53-carat diamond necklace, a family portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz, a week at Donna Karan’s Caribbean digs and even a trip into space. The trip on a Virgin Galactic spaceship, which will be alongside DiCaprio, went for $1.5 million.

Of course, there was also a catwalk show, which was aptly titled, The Ultimate Gold Collection. Curated by Carine Roitfield, it featured black and gold ensembles from Prada, Chanel, Valentino, Givenchy and Dior . Alessandro Ambosio and Karolina Kurkova were among the models showcasing the designs. All of the designs were sold to a single bidder for the astounding sum of $1.5 million.

Entertainment for the gold-themed night included Shirley Bassey revisiting James Bond theme “Goldfinger,” and also performances by Duran Duran and Ellie Goulding.

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