Best of Cannes 2009

scene from The White Ribbon

By now, you’ve probably heard about the winners from the 62nd Cannes film festival. Austrian director/writer Michael Haneke won the Palme d’Or for his black and white movie, The White Ribbon, which explores strange events taking place in a rural German village right before the start of World War I.

Christoph Waltz won Best Actor for his portrayal of the Nazi “Jew Hunter” in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg won Best Actress for playing a bereaved mother in Lars von Trier’s controversial Antichrist.

For more official festival winners, click here for Variety‘s round-up. To see who won my Nerdes d’Or for Best Dressed, read on.

Shortly after Robin Wright Penn appeared at at the Up premiere looking fabulous in this Elie Saab gown, her divorce from Sean Penn was called off. Coincidence?

Not only is the color stunning, look at the fit of this gown on Michelle Yeoh‘s body. Perfection.

Continuing the beautiful color trend is this pink column gown on Shu Qi, one of the festival’s judges. Love the necklace, too.

How fabulous does Elizabeth Banks look in this Armani Prive´gown? If I looked that good, my smile would be that big, too.

I have no love for Devon Aoki‘s acting but she looks like royalty in yellow Roberto Cavalli at a Chopard party.

I’m not a fan of beige (I read somewhere this was actually rose-colored) but the way this Versace drapes over Angelina Jolie‘s body is magnificent. It looks soft, comfy and sexy as hell. Love the siren-red lipstick, too.

Brad Pitt’s Inglorious Basterds co-star, Diane Kruger (in Marchesa), gave Angelina fierce competition for most radiant woman at the premiere.

I usually find metallics boring but Zhang Ziyi looks the sexiest I’ve ever seen her look in this gown. Yowza!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks like Venus rising out of her clamshell in this seafoam blue gown.

Roberto Cavalli seems to be MVP at this year’s festival, designing so many of my favorite gowns, including this one on Shu Qi. Love the rich blue hue, asymmetry and leather belt details.
Devon Aiki again, this time in lilac Alberta Ferretti, but once again with impeccable hair and Chopard jewelry. Aoki should stop venturing into acting and stay a model because she sure knows how to wear clothes.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to Tilda Swinton, who looks stunning in this burgundy ensemble. Her style is so unique that her outfits usually leave me confused but in this, she is awe-inspiring in the best way.

What do you think? Which ones are your faves?

Exclusive Backstage Look at the BAFTA/LA Awards–Part One

Here I go again with another exclusive behind-the-scenes look at a star-studded event that wasn’t televised. I did some Googling and am confident that this detailed write-up isn’t published anywhere else. Other media outlets may have been present and spoken with the stars on the red carpet but no one has a backstage report like this one (there’s even a description of the dinner menu!) from one of my sources. The writer also took all the photos so they’re exclusive as well. Since the account is rather comprehensive, I’ll publish this in two parts. Read on for fun anecdotes about Hugh Laurie, Don Cheadle, Sean Penn and Tilda Swinton!

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Although all of the ingredients for a glamorous Hollywood awards show were present (celebrities, the “Academy”, awards and such), Thursday night’s British Academy of Film & Television’s Los Angeles annual awards show was everything but typical. Held at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel on November 6, 2008, the annual awards show had only three awards and was not televised.

Beginning with a modest red carpet, pre-reception and a VIP after-party, the star-studded event honored director Stephen Frears and actors Don Cheadle, Tilda Swinton and Sean Penn. Each award was preceded by back-to-back presenters (including Annette Bening, Jack Black, and Patricia Clarkson) and tributes.

As guests arrived on the secondary ballroom level, they were segregated into two groups: celebrities and non-celebrities. The non-celebrities were to attend a silent auction and pre-reception while the celebrities were escorted to the red carpet. If there was a theme to the event, it would be “arriving sans partner.” Bening came sans Warren Beatty, performer Gavin Rossdale arrived without Gwen Stefani, Sean Penn was without on-again, off-again spouse Robin Wright Penn, and presenter Ben Affleck arrived without wife Jennifer Garner.

Celebrities were escorted off the carpet into a small room where candid photos were taken. This was where celebrities caught up with each other. Swinton chatted with Bening, and Penn greeted me saying, “It is SO good to see you again.” (I had just seen Penn a couple of weeks before at another event.) Here was also an opportunity for a quick drink prior to entering the show.

Several exchanges were observed. A fan requested a photo with presenter Hugh Laurie. Ever the gentleman, Laurie agreed, holding a bottle of beer. After the photo was snapped, Laurie said, “Great, this is my beer-lushing endorsement photo.”

Penn’s assistant for the evening offered Penn another drink.

“I need another drink, but I don’t think the BAFT/LA people would want me to have another one,” replied Penn, pronouncing the organization’s name “Baftalah.”

As honorees Penn, Swinton, and Frears were escorted to the main ballroom, guests started pouring in. About twenty minutes later, Affleck, Cheadle and presenter Eddie Izzard were seen being wrangled as a group to exit the press area and go directly to the show.

At 8 p.m., a salad was served, followed by an entree of Chicken Wellington wrapped in puff pastry and ending with lemon white chocolate sponge cake. Plenty of wine and spirits were provided.

The first award was presented to Frears. There were protesters outside who were upset over the passing of Proposition 8 (they were probably drawn to the event because Penn plays Harvey Milk in the upcoming movie) so I was distracted and stepped out to see what was going on. Unfortunately, when I came back in, Cheadle’s award had been presented and I’d missed most of his acceptance speech. What I did hear was characteristically humble. (Later, a fan followed him into the restroom, requesting a photo, and Cheadle obliged.) After Cheadle’s award, the audience was treated to a special acoustic performance by Rossdale singing two songs: “Love Remains the Same” and “Forever May You Run.”

The third award of the night went to Tilda Swinton, who was honored with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. The presenters were Angelica Huston and Hugh Laurie, who shared anecdotes.

“I haven’t seen any of Swinton’s films,” joked Laurie. “Actually, when I was twenty, I requested her to work on a student performance project with me. I was enraptured by her luminous and alabaster beauty.”

Overwhelmed, Swinton accepted the award and shared that it has only been recently that she has basked in the awards spotlight.

“The only thing I’ve won prior to these types of acting awards was a raffle at the age of twelve. I won Pagan Man aftershave that I re-gifted,” said Swinton.

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Check back tomorrow for Part Two, which includes a gushing tribute to Sean Penn.