Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

There were plenty of celebrities at the Cannes Film Festival première of The Immigrant on Friday, a movie by James Gray, set on Ellis Island in the 1920s. Commentators called the film, entered in competition at the Festival de Cannes, the most divisive because of its sentimentality.
   Gray had also co-written Blood Ties, which had premièred out of competition at the Festival earlier this week.
   He was inspired by his grandparents for his latest film, to be released by the Weinstein Company. They had emigrated from the Ukraine to the US.
   On the red carpet for The Immigrant at the Grand Théâtre Lumière were Harvey Weinstein, Darius Khondji, Anthony Katagas, Greg Shapiro, Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard, and James and Alexandra Gray.
   Olivia Palermo, Clotilde Courau, Peter Dundas, Carolina Parsons, Ana Girardot, Agathe Bonitzer, Mouna Ayoub, Kristin Scott Thomas, Liliana Matthaeus, Uma Thurman, Victoria Abril, Isabeli Fontana, Taís Araújo, Bianca Balti, Karlie Kloss, the reigning Miss Prestige National Auline Grac, Izabel Goulart, Juno Temple, Eugenia Silva, and Michael Cera.
   Saturday’s première of Venus in Fur, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the David Ives play, itself based on the Leopold von Sacher-Masoch novella. Set in the theatre, it is the last film to be screened in competition at Cannes, and is a vehicle for Polanski’s wife, Emmanuelle Seigner.
   Polanski, Seigner and actor Mathieu Amalric, who stars alongside Seigner, represented the film at Cannes, while celebrities on the red carpet included Audrey Tautou, Lynne Ramsay, Nicole Kidman, Carmen Chaplin, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Naomi Kawase, Kim Novak, Ludivine Sagnier, Zhang Ziyi, Bianca Balti and Agathe Bonitzer.
   Meanwhile, Montblanc and Liberatum have hosted a dinner for the première of Jim Jarmusch’s film Only Lovers Left Alive, which saw John Hurt, Claire Denis, Tom Hiddleston and other VIPs attend.

The Immigrant

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Venus in Fur

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Only Lovers Left Alive





Olivier Borde/Getty Images

AmFAR highlights

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, a black-and-white film in competition at the 66th Festival de Cannes, is a stylistic but not a thematic departure from his previous film, The Descendants. Bruce Dern and Will Forte play father and son in the new film, and June Squibb plays Dern’s wife.
   The storyline sees Dern’s character, Woody, receive an eligibility certificate in the mail that he believes entitles him to $1 million, so he begins walking the 850 miles to Lincoln, Nebraska. David, played by Forte, offers to drive him, even though he and his mother know the letter is a scam.
   Rance Howard, Angela McEwan and Stacy Keach also feature in Nebraska. Early reviews indicate that Payne’s choice of black-and-white film connects the rural American settings with a bygone era.
   Will Forte, June Squibb, Alexander Payne, Angela McEwan, Albert Berger, Bruce Dern, Laura Dern and Ron Yerxa promoted the film at Cannes at the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
   Nicole Kidman (in Valentino with jewellery by Fred Leighton) and Heidi Klum (in Versace, with Christian Louboutin heels and Lorraine Schwartz jewellery), however, stole the limelight on the red carpet. Kidman is part of the jury for the Cannes Film Festival this year, and walked down the red carpet with director Ang Lee, who serves with her.
   The other première was for Max Rose, a homage to Jerry Lewis, who was present at Cannes, along with writer–director Daniel Noah, Kerry Bishe, Kevin Pollak and Michel Legrand. Lewis, 87, plays a widowed jazz pianist.

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Videos added at 2.22 p.m. GMT


Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Above Irina Shayk was at her most fetching during the All Is Lost première.

Swedish appliance brand Electrolux continued to host celebrities at the Cannes Film Festival, on a day that saw the latest Robert Redford starrer, All Is Lost, make its début.
   The Grand Théâtre Lumière played host to J. C. Chandor’s (Margin Call) new film, where Redford’s character finds himself shipwrecked during a solo voyage in his yacht in the Indian Ocean.
   All Is Lost screened out of competition at the Festival de Cannes, and maintained its audience’s attention despite the limited scope. Redford proved to be as formidable today as in his heyday, if not more so.
   Representing the film on the red carpet were Redford and Chandor, and producers Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb, Mary Cameron Goodyear and Sibylle Szaggars.
   Celebrities attending the event included Zachary Quinto, Robert Redford, Petra Nemcova, Roman Polanski, former Formula 1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart and Lady Stewart, Irina Shayk, Alessandra Ambrosio, de Grisogono boss Fawaz Gruosi, Jessica Chastain, Sarah Marshall, former Miss Universe India Puja Gupta, Araya A. Hargate, Ameesha Patel, Li Yuchun, Barbara Palvin, Milla Jovovich, Mohammed Al Turki, Fagun Thakrar and Festival chairman Gilles Jacob.
   Electrolux hosted a Cannes grand jury luncheon on Wednesday, which Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux, Christoph Waltz, Cristian Mungiu, Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman, Lynne Ramsay, Vidya Balan, Naomi Kawase, Ang Lee and Daniel Auteuil attended. Electrolux partner chef Bruno Oger, a holder of two Michelin stars, hosted at the Agora Pavilion.

All Is Lost press conference

Weekend of Champions interview

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

As Wellington gears up to Africa Day this Saturday, with a 12-hour celebration at the Wellington Town Hall beginning at 11.30 a.m., there’s a distinctively non-African name behind the scenes doing the make-up for the fashion show on the day, as well as the smaller Taste of Africa event at Te Papa from 6 p.m. tonight (May 23).
   Kareen D. Holland, whose business KD One recently opened at Morrison Kent House on The Terrace, is applying her extensive experience in film make-up to the community event.
   KD One’s natural skin care and cosmetics stemmed from Holland’s years in film, working with such luminaries as Weta’s Sir Richard Taylor.
   Working at Taste of Africa and Africa Day is Holland’s way of giving back to the community, something she was keen to do ever since KD One opened last month.
   Africa Day showcases African culture through dance, music, arts, crafts and cuisine. It is the first major cultural event for African communities in Wellington.
   KD One was mentored by Lucire publisher Jack Yan as part of his work with Business Mentors New Zealand.

Updated with videos on May 23, 2013, 1.46 p.m. GMT

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Samir Hussein/Getty Images

In our opinion, the party at the Festival de Cannes that one should not miss is the one thrown by de Grisogono, the upscale jewellery brand, at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. If you want to see who’s in the Zeitgeist at Cannes, this is the place to look.
   This year, founder and president Fawaz Gruosi played host to actress Sharon Stone as the woman of the moment: the actress was resplendent in a red gown, complete with a thigh-high split. Now 55, Stone had aged remarkably little, and close-ups show that a good part of it is down to good genes and a decent beauty régime.
   Stone, who is arguably more popular in France than in the US—French media raved about Basic Instinct in the 1990s—stole the limelight at the Cannes Film Festival throughout the day, with a cobalt blue gown earlier while attending the Michael Douglas starrer, Behind the Candelabra, the Liberace bio-pic.
   Plenty of other celebs lit up the de Grisogono party at the Hôtel du Cap: Paris Hilton, Adriana Sklenaříková Karembeu, Ana Beatriz Barros, Alessandra Ambrosio (who was Instagramming the event), Lisa Verberght, Hofit Golan, Karmen Pedaru, Elisabetta Gregoraci, Jessica Hart, Toni Garn, designer Eva Cavalli, Fiammetta Cicogna, producer Harvey Weinstein, Dite Anata, Gary Dourdan, and Stacy Keibler.
   Extra videos have been added at the end of this report from the Behind the Candelabra press conference and red carpet, as well as a compilation video of the fashion seen at the 66th Festival de Cannes to date.

Samir Hussein/Getty Images

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Samir Hussein/Getty Images



Andreas Rentz/Getty Images





Samir Hussein/Getty Images







Andreas Rentz/Getty Images




Samir Hussein/Getty Images


Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Behind the Candelabra press conference

Behind the Candelabra red carpet

Red-carpet fashion

Updated with videos on May 23, 2013, 2.17 p.m. GMT, including Clive Owen and Zoe Saldana interviews at end


Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Guillaume Canet’s new film, Blood Ties, is the latest débutante in the official selection at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.
   Set in Brooklyn, New York in the 1970s, it is Canet’s first English-langage film, starring Clive Owen and Billy Crudup as two brothers who find themselves on different sides of the law. The cast includes Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis, James Caan, Noah Emmerich, and Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts (from De rouille et d’os, or Rust & Bone).
   Celebrities at the red-carpet première at the Festival de Cannes included Aishwarya Rai, Milla Jovovich, Hofit Golan, Mohammed Al Turki, Selita Ebanks, Phoebe Price, Hilaria Thomas, Alec Baldwin, Axelle Laffont, Gilles Lellouche, Allison Williams, Alice Taglioni, Pierre Niney, Elodie Navarre, Aure Atika, and Sarah Stern. Representing Blood Ties were Zoe Saldana, Billy Crudup, Noah Emmerich, Guillaume Canet, Clive Owen and Marion Cottilard.
   Also at the Festival on Monday were Rosario Dawson, Denis Menochet and Céline Sallette, spotted wearing jewellery and watches from the Montblanc range.
   Sponsor Electrolux, hosting at the Agora Pavilion, saw James Franco visit, and thank two-star Michelin chef Bruno Oger for the private luncheon prepared yesterday.

Red carpet

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Olivier Borde/Getty Images

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Olivier Borde/Getty Images







Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Clive Owen interview

Zoe Saldana interview

Updated with video on May 23, 2013, at 2.14 p.m. GMT


Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

The Coen Brothers’ latest film, Inside Llewyn Davies, had its Cannes Film Festival première on Sunday.
   The film is set in the 1960s’ Greenwich Village folk music scene, with Oscar Isaac in the title role. Carey Mulligan plays his love interest, Jean Berkey, who is in a relationship with Justin Timberlake’s character yet has become pregnant to Davies. John Goodman plays a jazz musician, and Garrett Hedlund his sidekick.
   Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and T-Bone Burnet, and directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, represented the film at the Festival de Cannes, where it is in competition.
   The première attracted numerous celebrities to the Grand Théâtre Lumière’s red carpet: former Miss World, actress and Cannes regular Aishwarya Rai, Nadine Labaki, Jessica Biel, Maudy Koesnadi, Kirsten Dunst, Frédérique Bel, Hofit Golan, Cindy Fabre, Brahim Asloum and Isabella Orsini, Giulio Base and Tiziana Rocca, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman (who managed a public snog for the paparazzi), Vidya Balan, Olga Sorokina, Jane Fonda, Melita Toscan du Plantier, shoe designer Christian Louboutin, Christoph Waltz, Cristian Mungiu and Lynne Ramsay, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and the chairman of the Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Jacob.
   One of the main sponsors, Electrolux, has been hosting the stars at the Electrolux Agora Pavilion, and on Sunday, Jade Jagger paid a quick visit, greeted by two-Michelin-star chef Bruno Oger.

Inside Llewyn Davies press conference

Inside Llewyn Davies red carpet

Ian Gavan/Wireimage/Getty Images

Updated with Jennifer Lawrence video on May 23, 2013, 2.06 p.m. GMT


Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Above In what must be her year, Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence was in Cannes to promote her new film, Catching Fire.

It was another evening of celebrities at the 66th Festival de Cannes, the Cannes Film Festival, yesterday, with the première of Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian).
   Attending the première were Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence (in Dior), Liya Kebede, Paz Vega, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Louise Bourgoin, Elena Lenina, Jessica Miller, Lars Ulrich, Phoebe Price, Mia Frye, Gary Dourdan, Lady Victoria Hervey, Camille Lellouche, and many of the L’Oréal Paris spokeswomen: Cheryl Cole (in Zuhair Murad), Jane Fonda, Megan Gale, Eva Longoria, and Doutzen Kroes (in Calvin Klein). Grand Central’s Camille Lellouche, Denis Menochet, Lea Seydoux, Tahar Rahim and director Rebecca Zlotowski were present on day four’s festivities, as were Catching Fire’s Sam Claflin, Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and director Francis Lawrence. (Both films are being promoted at Cannes.) Jimmy P.’s Benicio del Toro, Gina McKee, Mathieu Amalric, Danny Mooney, Michelle Thrush, Misty Upham, director Arnaud Desplechin and writer Kent Jones were also present. Thrush and Upham have American roots extending back to the Cree and Blackfoot tribes respectively.
   Jimmy P. deals with a post-World War II American soldier from the Blackfoot tribe, Jimmy Picard (del Toro), who has suffered from war trauma, who winds up at a hospital in Topeka, Kansas, with Amalric playing his doctor, Georges Devereux, a psychoanalyst and anthropologist with a speciality in native American tribes. It is based on a true story as recounted in Devereux’s 1951 book, Reality and Dream.
   Jimmy P. is Desplechin’s fourth film selected for the main competition at Cannes.