Organized by Kering and the Festival de Cannes, the Presidential Dinner welcomed close to 200 guests at the Place de la Castre, on the hills of Le Suquet in Cannes. Pierre Lescure, President of the Festival de Cannes, Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes, and François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, have given their respective awards to both laureates of the evening: the committed American actress and producer Jane Fonda, and the American producer Megan Ellison. As co-hosts of the event, Kering and the Festival de Cannes have also paid a tribute to Olivia de Havilland, the first woman to be appointed President of the Jury of the Festival de Cannes in 1965, 50 years ago.
Among guests from the film industry, the Presidential Dinner gathered the following actresses: Claudia Cardinale, Frances McDormand, Salma Hayek Pinault, Isabelle Huppert, Sophie Marceau, Julie Gayet, Clothilde Courau, Marilou Berry, Charlotte Le Bon, Golshifteh Farahani, Rossy de Palma, Li Bingbing, Gianna Jun, Nadine Labaki, Nandita Das as well as the actors Benicio del Toro, John Turturro, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tahar Rahim, Pierre Niney, Melvil Poupaud, Gilles Lellouche, Edouard Baer, and Vincent Lindon.
Other notable guests were the Coen brothers, the director and screenwriter Sylvie Pialat, the director, screenwriter and actress Tonie Marshall, the director Haifaa Al-Mansour, the director, screenwriter and producer Bertrand Tavernier, the director, screenwriter and producer Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker and producer Abderrahmane Sissako as well the producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint and the costume designer and artistic director Rosalie Varda.
The “Who’s who?” list continued with guests like Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Gucci, Charlotte Casiraghi, Dennis Chan, Qeelin Creative Director, the singer, songwriter-composer-performer Rokia Traoré, the model Aymeline Valade and the fashion photographer Chen Man.
Celebrating the contribution of women to the film industry, the May 17 Presidential Dinner has also marked the launch of the first edition of the ‘Women in Motion’ initiative at the Festival de Cannes. By 2016, the program will include two ‘Women in Motion’ Awards: a first award honoring a remarkable contribution to the women’s cause, and a second one to distinguish a young and talented female filmmaker, to help young talented women gain visibility and recognition in the film industry.