American actor Sharon Stone will return to host the amfAR Gala at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival on Friday, after an absence of seven years, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
This marks amfAR Cannes Gala’s 27th edition.
The amfAR, or the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an independent non-profit foundation dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. The foundation organises fundraising events in collaboration with film festivals across the globe.
Stone’s ties with amfAR date back to 1995, when she was first invited to serve as the foundation’s Global Campaign Chair. She first chaired amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS event during the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.
The Golden Globe Award-winning actor has travelled extensively on behalf of the foundation, including to places like Dubai, Milan, Mumbai, São Paolo, New York and Los Angeles. At the 2014 Cinema Against AIDS event, she helped raise a record $35 million in a single evening. It was her last appearance at an amfAR Cannes event.
As per THR, the 2015 Inspiration Gala Los Angeles was the last amfAR event that Stone attended and she never revealed a reason for the assumed rift with the foundation.
Stone was chosen by the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 2020, to be honoured with the Legacy Award, and received the Peace Summit Award in 2013, for her work in the field.
On the work front, Stone was last seen in the 2020 Netflix series Ratched.
The Cannes Film Festival kick-started on July 6 and will end on July 17. The ongoing festival is being held with COVID-19 related restrictions in place. Due to the pandemic, this year’s event is held outdoors at Villa Eilenroc with capacity limited to 400, down from a typical 900-guest event.
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At Friday’s amfAR Gala, Stone will be joined by headliner Alicia Keys and multiple yet-to-be-announced performers, jury president Spike Lee and chairs including Angela Bassett, Len Blavatnik, Rachel Brosnahan, Milla Jovovich, Nicole Kidman, Regina King, Heidi Klum, Catherine O’Hara, Aldis Hodge, Freida Pinto, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Yeoh, Youn Yuh-Jung, and amfAR functionaries. The event will also feature a fashion show curated by Carine Roitfeld.