The 23rd annual Cinema Against AIDS gala raised more than $25 million last night in support of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and its pursuit of a cure for HIV/AIDS.
Credit/Copyright: amfAR
The star-studded black-tie event, held at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France, during the Cannes Film Festival, was presented by Harry Winston and Bold Films.
Event Chairs in attendance included Kevin Spacey, Milla Jovovich, Adrien Brody, Heidi Klum, Carine Roitfeld, Harvey Weinstein, amfAR Global Fundraising Chairman Milutin Gatsby, Len Blavatnik, Michel Litvak, Vincent Roberti, and amfAR Chairman of the Board Kenneth Cole.
Other guests in attendance, many of whom participated in the evening’s auction included Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry, Dame Helen Mirren, Uma Thurman, Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Vanessa Paradis, Faye Dunaway, Elle Fanning, Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Juliette Binoche, Karlie Kloss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Karolina Kurkova, Bella Hadid, Chris Tucker, Chloë Sevigny, Julian Lennon, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jourdan Dunn, Lewis Hamilton, Matt Bellamy, Adriana Lima, Irina Shayk, Nicolas Winding Refn, Nina Agdal, Elif Aksu, Mert Alas, Alina Baikova, Ana Beatriz Barros, Mischa Barton, Boris Becker, Dean Caten, Dan Caten, Eva Cavalli, Hailey Clauson, Anna Cleveland, Mina Cvetković, Heidi De la Rosa, Lily Donaldson, Isabeli Fontana, Georgia Fowler, Toni Garrn, Izabel Goulart, Luma Grothe, Jessica Hart, Eva Herzigova, Chanel Iman, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Xiao Wen Ju, Sonam Kapoor, Liya Kebede, Doutzen Kroes, Lara Leito, Maryna Linchuk, Angela Lindvall, Sasha Luss, Catrinel Marlon, Angela Martini, Stella Maxwell, Margot Moe, Mia Moretti, Petra Nemcova, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Barbara Palvin, Soo Joo Park, Marcus Piggott, Natasha Poly, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Vladimir Roitfeld, Olivier Rousteing, Remo Ruffini, Dragos Savulescu, Lucky Blue Smith, Lara Stone, Daria Strokous, Kasia Struss, Jasmine Tookes, and Dasha Zhukova, among others.
Kevin Spacey hosted the evening in character throughout the night as Johnny Carson, Bill Clinton, Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, and his own Frank Underwood. During the auction, he donated an opportunity to spend the day with him in Washington, DC, which would include a tennis match, lunch, a personal tour of the city, and a walk-on role in the Netflix hit series “House of Cards.” The experience sold for $575,000.
Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio took the stage to give a heartfelt honor to amfAR Global Fundraising Chairman Milutin Gatsby for his unwavering support of amfAR and other philanthropic efforts. In his award acceptance, Mr. Gatsby encouraged everyone to give generously in support of finding a cure for AIDS.
Another stunning feature of the evening was the Disco Collection fashion show curated by longtime amfAR supporter Carine Roitfeld. The dazzling collection featured one-of-a-kind looks from the world’s most celebrated fashion houses. Participating designers included Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, DSQUARED2, Elie Saab, Fendi, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Marchesa, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford, Versace, and more. Thirty-two of the world’s top models participated in the runway presentation, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Jourdan Dunn, Lily Donaldson, Natasha Poly, Doutzen Kroes, Hailey Clauson, and Event Co-Chairs Karlie Kloss and Irina Shayk, among others. The Disco Collection was subsequently auctioned off in its entirety by Uma Thurman for $1.7 million.
Guests enjoyed bidding on an array of exclusive items and experiences during the live auction, conducted by auctioneer Simon de Pury and event producer Andy Boose. The auction’s most unique piece was the world’s most complete TASCHEN private library housed in a structure designed by legendary French architect and designer Jean Prouvé. The unprecedented TASCHEN library and Jean Prouvé structure, assembled especially and uniquely for amfAR, comprised 444 TASCHEN masterpieces, including 60 titles from the coveted Collector’s Editions. After a lively round of bidding, the lot sold for $2.7 million.
Leonardo DiCaprio graciously donated an opportunity for a party of twelve to spend a week at his Palm Springs home. Originally built for Dinah Shore, the neighboring houses were home to other stars such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Dean Martin, Liberace, Elvis Presley, and amfAR’s Founding International Chairman Elizabeth Taylor. The exclusive experience sold twice for a total of $500,000.
Model Karolina Kurkova introduced an exquisite necklace, designed exclusively for amfAR and Cinema Against AIDS by Harry Winston. With 452 Marquise, pear-shaped, and round brilliant diamonds, along with sapphires and aquamarines surrounding a hand-carved rock crystal vial, the “Secret Cluster Perfume Bottle with Sapphires and Aquamarines” sold for $400,000.
Event Chair and Academy Award-winning actor and artist Adrien Brody created the painting “Jumbo Dropfish” especially for amfAR which sold for over $500,000.
The unforgettable evening culminated in an exuberant performance by global pop sensation Katy Perry, who performed some of her top hits, including “Roar,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl,” “Dark Horse,” and “Firework,” which brought the entire crowd to its feet.
The evening also featured extraordinary surprise performances by The Bluebell Girls from Le Lido Cabaret in Paris; Sister Sledge, who opened the night with a rip-roaring rendition of their 1979 hit “We Are Family;” and The Village People, who had the crowd dancing to their platinum dance song “Y.M.C.A.”
Additional highlights from the auction included:
• A contemporary dining pavilion, “VOLU,” designed by one of the most talented and celebrated architects of a generation, Zaha Hadid, sold for $1.3 million.
• A unique, one-off Ferrari 458 completely customized in camouflage, owned and donated by Lapo Elkann, sold for $1.1 million.
• Dame Helen Mirren and Adrien Brody introduced five priceless Andy Warhol Polaroid prints of 1970s icons and the evening’s muses for The Disco Collection fashion show – Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, and Diane von Furstenberg – which sold for $160,000.
• An opportunity for a dozen people to spend a week on board the magnificent 70-meter Lürssen superyacht Martha Ann, introduced by Elle Fanning and Karl Glusman, sold for $575,000.
• Melissa George and Joel Edgerton presented the exclusive Moët & Chandon MCIII Wine Cellar, the only one of its kind in the world, featuring 23 magnum bottles of MCIII wine housed in a specially handcrafted cellar, which sold for $100,000.
• ’Ensō: Memento Mori Red," a painting by acclaimed artist Takashi Murakami, known as “the Warhol of Japan,” sold for $450,000.
• A work titled “Universal Mirror Balls” by acclaimed Swiss artist John Armleder, featuring five massive disco balls on display inside the event, sold for $170,000 to Event Chair Milla Jovovich.
• “Wild Carved Panther,” a stunning sculpture by French artist Richard Orlinksi, sold for $400,000.
• An eight-day sailing adventure through the exotic Indonesian archipelago on a luxurious 100-year-old teak and ironwood vessel, led by record-breaking explorer Johan Ernst Nilson, was introduced by Orlando Bloom and sold for $200,000.
Cinema Against AIDS 23 was presented by Harry Winston and Bold Films. Moët Hennessy, Renault, and The Weinstein Company were the event’s Signature Sponsors.
After the Cinema Against AIDS dinner, guests were invited to an exclusive After Party presented by Moncler.
amfAR’s annual Cinema Against AIDS events have been important and successful fundraising events for the Foundation for over two decades, generating more than $170 million for amfAR’s life-saving research programs and keeping the fight against AIDS in the global media spotlight. amfAR continues to fund HIV/AIDS researchers worldwide, and works to translate their research into effective policy, prevention, and treatment education programs around the globe. Additionally, amfAR recently launched the Countdown to a Cure for AIDS, a $100 million research initiative aimed at developing the scientific basis of a cure by 2020. The cornerstone of the Countdown to a Cure is the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research, a collaborative enterprise recently established with a five-year grant to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Delta Air Lines is the Official Airline Partner of amfAR. Moët Hennessy is the Official Wine and Spirits Partner of amfAR.
amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS event is produced by Andy Boose/AAB Productions.
