By halftime the festival goes into full party mode. Not just the daily premiere after-parties but high-end sponsors and above all jewelry companies. Chopard kicked off the week with their annual celebration. Since this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Palme d’Or, Chopard launched jewelry collections inspired by the curves of the Palme in ethical fair mined gold. Gold was also the motto of their Monday evening shindig. It brought out the inevitable supermodel parade: Victoria’s Secret angels Irina Shayk, Adriana Lima, Petra Nemcova and Isabeli Fontana were joined by catwalk colleagues Erin O’Connor, Ana Beatriz Barros, a slew of Russian wannabes, serial red carpet attendee Hofit Golan and Toni Garrn who last year showed up with Leonardo DiCaprio but came solo on Monday night. Socialite Poppy Delevigne posed in a flowery gown, Fan Bingbing showed up in innocent white lace. Like every year it was hard to figure out what one-time It-girl Paris Hilton was doing in Cannes but that is one mystery no one was interested in solving.
There were also some movie stars on hand: Michelle Rodriguez stayed with her fashion festival theme of black and nude; Uma Thurman wore baby blue satin. A newly blond Nicole Scherzinger who had been spending time out of the spotlight since her split with Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, shimmered in a metallic feathered gown with fishtail. Scherzinger was the most photographed woman of the night. But it was the surprise musical guest, who got everyone excited – Robbie Williams brought wife Ayda Fields and performed for an hour. Lucky for him most guests were European because, in an inexplicable twist of fate, this talented British singer never made it in the U.S. and is virtually unknown to Americans.
Much more exclusive, to the point of secretive, was Calvin Klein’s yearly soirée, this time held in a private villa whose location was disclosed only hours before it started to the 200 invitees. It had more stars and better models and whether the dress code was part of the invite or not is up for speculation but somehow no one showed up in patterned dresses or loud make up. Emily Blunt wore elegant cream colored gowns, Rachel Weisz in her best color – red, supermodels Joan Smalls and Doutzen Kroes chose pant suits, Natalia Vodianova wore simple black chiffon, Lilly Donaldson came in white, Melanie Laurent in silver. Calvin Klein creative director Francisco Costa played perfect host at the classy affair.
Speaking of fashion, Cannes apparently finally got its (mini) scandal this day with the brouhaha henceforth to be known as heels-gate. The commotion began when, as reported by The Independent, some female guests were turned away from the red carpet for not…wearing high enough heels. With that the festival fashion police really put their foot in it, especially since the “flats prohibition” does not jibe very well with the much-ballyhooed theme of gender empowerment this year. Emily Blunt was asked about it at the Sicario press conference and she was, well, blunt, terming the idea ridiculous and pathetic after all the talk of emancipation. Denis Villeneuve and Benicio del Toro then chivalrously said they would wear heels in solidarity on the carpet – (although del Toro later confided to us he was talking about cowboy boots).
Noticeably absent from the party circuit is the Cannes jury. Presidents Joel and Ethan Coen seem to be running a very tight ship, similar to Steven Spielberg a few years back when he famously made his jurors agree to no extracurricular activities other than the mandatory red carpet walk at the premieres. Jake Gyllenhaal even cancelled the introduction to his film Southpaw and with it the special screening set for Tuesday afternoon. Sophie Marceau and Rossi dePalma are nowhere to be seen.
As far as films go, the festival has entered its usual slump phase with everyone looking most forward to Villeneuve’s crime drama, starring the aforementioned Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro. Their after-party took place on the fanciest of all beach locations, Baoli Plage. The cinematic pace will pick up next with Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth and its stars Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz. But the most upfront buzz goes without a doubt to Gaspar Noe’s Love, described as an art-porn film in 3D. It premieres Thursday.
Elisabeth Sereda

Actor Josh Brolin and Kathryn Boyd leave the Premiere of Sicario during
the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2015 in Cannes, France.

U.S.-Israeli actress and director Natalie Portman (C) poses with South Korean director Hong Won-Chan (2nd-L) and Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes (L) as they arrive with other guests for the screening of the film Sicario at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 19, 2015.

U.S. actor Josh Brolin, British actress Emily Blunt, U.S.-Puerto Rican actor
Benicio Del Toro and Canadian director Denis Villeneuve pose before
leaving the Festival palace after the screening of the film Sicario at the
68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 19, 2015.

U.S. actress Uma Thurman and artistic director and co-president of Chopard Caroline Scheufele attend the Soiree Chopard ‘Gold Party’ on the sidelines of the 68th Cannes film festival on May 18, 2015 in Cannes, France.

Singer Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field attend the Soiree Chopard ‘Gold Party’ on the sidelines of the 68th Cannes film festival on May 18, 2015 in Cannes, France.