2013 Cannes Festival

I attended another screening today, Friday the third day of the Festival, of a film starring Rob Pralgo and Tom Sizemore called Remnants.  This film is about the tragic and devastating aftermath of a giant solar flare that disables the entire worlds electrical grid.  The film shows the reaction of humans when they lack the everyday access to food and water.  The film leaves one with little hope for mankind.

Evelyn Bakon Wheeler and Actor Rob Pralgo

My friends and producers from Machete Cine in Mexico have finally arrived on the Croisette for the screening of their film "La Jaula De Oro (The GoldenCage) directed by first time filmmaker Diego  Quemada-Diez scheduled to screen May 22 in Salle Debussy Theater.  This is the same production company that produced first time filmmaker Michael Rowe who screened here in 2010 with the film "Ano  Bisiesto (Leap Year)" that won the Camera d'Or. This team of young producers, Edher Campos and Luis Salinas are making remarkable strides here at Cannes.  They have informed me that they have reserved me a spot at their screening.  Nice to have friends in high places.  I'm predicting very big things for these young men.  Stay tuned.

Getting Ready For Cannes 2013

Well the bags are packed and my tickets are printed, so I guess I'm ready to hit the red carpet in Cannes again this year. There will be a lot going on this year in Cannes with some of the biggest pictures and  the biggest names in film making appearances. I have been given the pleasure of assisting Yolonda Brinkley the visionary creator of Beyond Borders: Diversity in Cannes Symposium and Short Film Showcase.  This is Yolonda's fourth year hosting her symposium and the first year for her Short Film Showcase. We are trying to make some hookups for parties during the festival, which is the trickiest part of the entire festival, but we will not be deterred. We are going to get into a party in Cannes even if we have to crash one of them.

Several of my friends will be in Cannes this year.  The production company Machete Cine will be making their second appearance in three years with a new film from filmmaker Diego Quemada-Diez (La Jaula De Oro "The Golden Cage") in competition Un Certain Regard (First Film).  Their last turn in Cannes 2010 with filmmaker Michael Rowe (Ano Bisiesto "Leap Year") won the Camera d'or.  Diego Quemada-Diez is vying for the same award this year.

My friend Deborah Riley-Draper, writer, producer and director of the award winning documentary Versailles 73: American Runway Revolution (which I have been raving about since I first saw it in Cannes last year and have attended four screenings here in the U.S.)  is also returning to Cannes this year in a different capacity. Also a couple of friends I met since Cannes last year and who were enamoured by recollections of my experiences in Cannes are making the trip to see for themselves.  Linda and Dina whom I met on the Vineyard last summer will be walking the Croisette with me this year.

Evelyn Bakon Wheeler, Michael Rowe

Deborah Riley Draper, Evelyn Bakon Wheeler

66th Cannes Film Festival 2013 and my 13th Attendance

View of the Palais de Festival 2012
Credit: Festival de Cannes

View of the Palais de Festival 2011

One month from today I will wing my way to the French Riviera and my 13th Cannes Film Festival. Although the festival doesn't begin until May 15-26, I will spend some time at my place in Nice before venturing down the road to Cannes and the biggest and most prestigious film festival in the world.  It has been said that 80 percent of the world's wealth is in Cannes during the 11 days of the festival. Judging by the number of yachts in the Cannes harbor and marina, and the overwhelming number of Rolls', Bentley's, Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and any other fine automobile you can name, I would venture to say it's not far from the truth.  It's fairly easy to get rundown by a Rolls' or Bentley. Trying to board one of the yachts is not so easy and getting invited to a party aboard one of them is even harder.

This year because of my enthusiasm for past festivals, a number of people I have met are making the trek this year. I think the festival owes me for my PR work. My Cannes friend and sidekick for the past three years, Yolonda Brinkley (YRB International Exposure) is also upping her visibility at this years festival with her 4th Beyond Borders: Diversity In Cannes Filmmaker Symposium and her 1st Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase and Awards (check out her web site, www.diversityincannes.com). Last year during the festival an article in the UK Guardian mentioned her Diversity in Cannes Symposium because of the number of women on the panel and why so few women filmmakers were not being featured in the overall festival. Yolonda also received a 2012 European Diversity Award nomination.

This is looking to be a pretty big festival this year with Australian director Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby"opening the festival (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan and the musical score by Jay-Z that also features a song by Beyonce, all of whom are expected to walk the famous red carpeted stairs). You can view the movie trailer on the Video Bar in my blog.

Just announced a few minutes ago via Festival de Cannes - Page Officiele that French actress Audrey Tautou will host the opening and closing ceremonies. Last year was my first time actually attending the opening ceremony. Steven Spielberg is President of the Festival Jury this year. Remember in 2011 when Robert De Niro was President of the Jury people were mistaking me for "Madame De Niro," to my delight.

As in the past, I will be blogging here during the Festival trying to keep everyone abreast of all the happenings and fun that I am sure I will be getting into this year. Stay tuned.

See you at Nikki Beach at the 66th Annual Cannes International Film Festival May 15-25 2013

Scenes from 65th Festival de Cannes 2012

Cast of Madagascar 3, Jada Pinkett Smith, Ben Stiller
Jessica Chastain and Chris Rock
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Cast and Director of Madagascar 3, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock
Ben Stiller, Martin Short, Jessica Chastain
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Director and Cast of Beast of the Southern Wild, Quvenzhane Wallis
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Director and Cast of Beast of the Southern Wild, Quvenzhane Wallis
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Cast of The Paperboy, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey,
Nicole Kidman, Zack Efron, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray and Director Lee Daniels
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Cast of Red Tails, Cuba Gooding, David Oyelowo
and Director George Lucas and Mellody Hopkins
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Cast of The PaperBoy, Macy Gray, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey,
John Cusack, Zack Efron and Director Lee Daniels
Credit: Festival de Cannes

Combined PAFF and AAFCA Awards Los Angeles

Landed in Los Angeles, Thursday, February 7, 2013 for the AAFCA Awards where my friend Deborah Riley Draper will be receiving the award for best documentary.  LA is practically in shutdown mode while the LAPD is staging a manhunt for a cop killer who happens to be a former cop himself.  No one does cop drama like LA.  The only thing to rival the LAPD is the cities hosting of the most revered red carpet events in the world.

Staying at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard across from TCL Chinese Theatre which used to be Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre which used to be the Kodak Theatre (Do you see a trend here?) where the Academy Awards are held.  It turns out the evening is a combined Pan African Film Festival tribute and the African American Film Critics Association Awards at the Taglyan Center in Hollywood.  My party arrived for the reception and red carpet at 6:00 p.m. and there was quite a few stars who turned out for the event.  Danny Glover, Richard Rountree, Lynn Whitfield, Janet Dubois, Sallie Richardson, Jordin Sparks, Holly Robinson Peete, Omari Hardwick, Kem, David Oyelowo, Reginald Hudlin, Nate Parker (Best Actor Nominee for Arbitrage), Jesse Williams (Greys Anatomy), Emayatzy Cornealdi (Best actress nominee for Middle of Nowhere), Nicole Beharie and director Deborah Riley Draper (Best documentary).

AAFCA Award Winners:
Best Actor                      Denzel Washington, “Flight” (Paramount)  
Best Actress                  Emayatzy Corinealdi, “Middle of Nowhere” (AFFRM)  
Best Supporting Actress Sally Field, “Lincoln” (Touchstone)
Best Supporting Actor    Nate Parker, “Arbitrage” (Roadside Attractions)
Best Foreign Film           Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, “The Intouchables” (Weinstein Company)  
Breakout Performance     Quvenzhané Wallis for “Beast of the Southern Wild”
(Fox Searchlight)
Best Director                   Ben Affleck, “Argo” (Warner)
Best Screenplay             Ava DuVernay, “Middle of Nowhere”(AFFRM)
Best Music                    Kathryn Bostic & Morgan Rhodes, “Middle of Nowhere” (AFFRM)
Best Independent Film  “Middle of Nowhere” (AFFRM)  
Best Animation             “Rise of the Guardians,” (Paramount)
Best Documentary    tie   “The House I Live In” (Charlotte Street Films) &
“Versailles ’73” (Coffee Bluff Pictures) 

This is also Grammy weekend in LA so there is a lot going on.  Stars are all over the place and parties are popping up everywhere.  My hotel is a hot spot so I barely slept Friday and Saturday night because of the parties going on in the hotel including the room next to mine.  Of course that was a no no, so I called the front desk who promptly sent security to quite things down.  Turns out it was just a bunch of drunk teenage girls whose parents apparently let them loose for the weekend.  Only in LA.

Deborah Riley Draper's acceptance speech at the AAFCA Awards for her Best Documentary Award was the best of the night.  She gave a shout out to our Table 18 which gave us a chance to make some noise.  Versailles 73: American Runway Revolution comes out on VOD and DVD  February 12, 2013.  Make sure you get your copy because you need this in your black history collection.  This documentary follows the events leading up to what was coined as the "Battle of Versailles" a landmark fashion show on November 28, 1973, that pitted a fashion showdown between American ready-to-wear designers, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Stephen Burrows and Halston, against five French haute couture designers, Yves St. Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior and Emanuel Ungaro.  It was also the first time African American models appeared on high fashion European runways.  The documentary recounts that event that began as a fundraiser to restore the roof of the Palace of Versailles that ended up being a complete blowout by the American designers led by the unbelievable sashaying of 12 African American models.  The runways of the world would never be the same again.

 Director of Versailles 73: American Runway Revolution, Deborah Riley Draper

 Janet Dubois, founder of Pan African Film Festival

Actress/Singer Janet Dubois and daughter

Actress Salli Richardson

Evelyn Bakon Wheeler

Actor Nate Parker

Actress Emayatzy Cornealdi star of Middle of Nowhere

Actor Jesse Williams star of Greys Anatomy

 Director Deborah Riley Draper

 Actor David Oyelowo

 Actresses Salli Ricardson and Lynn Whitfield

 Singer Jordin Sparks

 

 Actress Nicole Beharie

Hostess Salli Ricardson; Honorees Nicole Baharie, Omari Hardwick and Lynn Whitfield; Founders of Pan African Film Festival Danny Glover and Janet Dubois

See you on the next red carpet 66th Cannes Film Festival 16-26 May 2013.  

Au revoir.

BET Honors

The 2013 BET Honors took place in Washington, D.C. Saturday night, January 12, 2012. The event which celebrates distinguished African Americans in the areas of music, literature, entertainment, media, service and education also brought out our favorite style stars.

Gabrielle Union played host for the evening and wore a collection of amazing dresses throughout the night, as she has the previous two years that she has been hostess.  Her red carpet gown and side bobbed hairstyle was a real attention getter.

You'll have to tune into BET on February 11, 2013 at 9:00 pm EST to watch the star-studded event, but in the meantime check out these lovely ladies and some of our other fashion favorites--including Kelly Rowland, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan--in the slideshow below.

credit: Huffington Post

credit: Huffington Post
Gabrielle Union

credit: Huffington Post
Halle Berry

credit: Huffington Post
Alicia Keyes

credit: Huffington Post
Kelly Rowland

credit: Huffington Post
Ledisi

credit: Huffington Post
Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan and Phylicia Rashad

All pictures courtesy of the Huffington Post.

70th Golden Globe Awards

The award season is off to a great start with the Golden Globes tonight in Los Angeles.  The red carpet was overrun with the biggest stars in Hollywood.   Denzel arrived with his youngest daughter as his date (her first red carpet with dad).  Denzel looked the proud papa as he detailed his daughters theater ambitions at an unnamed school in New York.

Halle, who has been missing from the red carpet for the past few award shows debuted her leg ala Angelina Jolie.

I saw many super impressive dresses on the red carpet.  Some of my favorites: Helen Mirren in Badgley Mischka, Anne Hathaway in Chanel, Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad, .Halle Berry in Versace, Emily Blunt in Michael Kors, Kerry Washington in Miu Miu.  There were a lot of red dresses on the carpet, none of which I found to be that outstanding, and I'm a red dress fanatic.  In the male category, Jamie Foxx looked as clean as a million bucks.  I am sure it was from his go to designer Oswald Boateng for the red carpet.

The hostesses, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were a scream on stage.  The best hostess/host ever.  Women rock.  I think there will be a campaign to make them permanent host for the show.  They were trending on Twitter for their rambunctious opening and the hilarious jokes.





Halle Berry
Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images.


Helen Mirren



Anne Hathaway


Emily Blunt


Taylor Swift
Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images.


Kerry Washington


Naomi Watts


Kate Hudson


During the show, Twitter was abuzz as JLo's dress was getting a lot of heat including likes, dislikes and thumbs down.  Some people were comparing it to a doily, a tablecloth, a painful skin condition  and even a Victorian prostitute's dress. 


Jennifer Lopez


Jessica Alba


All Pictures Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images.

Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo at his most stylish



‘Twas the season to be stylish! Take a look at our December Instagram roundup, lit up in festive colour & sparkle.: ‘Twas the season to be stylish! Take a look at our December Instagram roundup, lit up in festive colour & sparkle.

An Evening in Montmartre

An Evening in Montmartre, Sunday, November 4, 2012 was a fabulous gala benefit event featuring an afternoon ballet performance by Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University  in Chicago, followed by a gala reception and dinner at The Palmer House Hilton.  The dance performance "Moulin Rouge - The Ballet" was spectacularly produced with outstanding performances by principal dancers, Amanda Green, Dimitri Dovgoselets, Yosuke Mino and Sophia Lee (who stole the show by the way).  Moulin Rouge is the most famous cabaret in history which produced the famous and scandalous Cancan dance.   The event was hosted by the Consul General Gitane De Silva of Canada, Consul General Graham Paul of France, Nicolas and Kathleen Amatangelo, and Frantz and McGhee Osse.

The post-performance reception at The Palmer House Hilton featured Cancan greeters, caricaturists and a juggler.  The three course dinner, a smoked salmon with white truffle oil appetizer, stuffed filet oscar with crabmeat entree, and a french dessert sampler was superb and served with either a Cadet d'Oc Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon  from Languedoc-Roussillon, France.  My tables mates at the dinner included Pianist Ramsey Lewis and his wife Jan.  The City Lights Orchestra played an unobtrusive set during dinner with just the right tone and volume to allow guest to converse with each other.

It was a delightful and enjoyable evening.  Thanks to my friend McGhee Osse for the invitation.