BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Teyana Taylor, Mick Jagger, and were just a few of the stars mingling on the patio of the storied Polo Lounge on the Saturday night before the . They gathered at the iconic spot at The Beverly Hills Hotel for the 17th annual pre-Oscar dinner co-hosted by Chanel and film producer Charles Finch.
On the red carpet, , who is the on Sunday, noted how intimate it felt with only a handful of photographers and reporters looking on.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a prelude to tomorrow, right?鈥� Buckley quipped. Her dress was embellished with dragonflies on the straps. She said it felt like a fairy tale.
The co-director of the animated musical Maggie Kang, was excited to be in the mix, but also thinking about Sunday, when her film is expected to win best animated feature and best original song. There鈥檚 also the big which producers have said will celebrate the bigger cultural phenomenon of the movie.
鈥淚t鈥檚 epic. It鈥檚 a lot of drama,鈥� Kang said. 鈥淚 had tears just watching the rehearsal. It was really amazing. It鈥檚 going to be a big cultural moment.鈥�
A very starry gathering
The patio was packed with Oscar nominees, winners, filmmakers and celebrities mingling and sipping drinks. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren S谩nchez Bezos chatted with Sigourney Weaver and Jessica Alba, while Stellan Skarsg氓rd found himself deep in conversation with Nick Cave. Elsewhere, Stewart posed for a photo with Taylor, and Nicole Kidman caught up with Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, who also found her way back to her 鈥淏ridesmaids鈥� co-star Maya Rudolph. a bit for the show at the Dolby Theatre.
On another part of the patio, Jagger made his way to filmmaker Joachim Trier, Molly Sims and her film producer husband Scott Stuber spoke with 鈥淟ove Story鈥� star Sarah Pidgeon, who was sipping champagne, while director Josh Safdie and his cowriter and co-editor Ronald Bronstein tried to make their way toward one another. A glass might have been a casualty of the meeting.
Chanel’s long history with the movies
Chanel has been tied to cinema for nearly a century. Samuel Goldwyn famously invited house founder Gabrielle Chanel to Hollywood in 1931 to design dresses for the likes of Gloria Swanson. Decades later, she was working with French New Wave luminaries both on screen and off, including Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Alain Resnais and Louis Malle. And the collaborations continue to this day. As a nod to the era for Richard Linklater鈥檚 they recreated a haute couture bustier dress from a 1956 collection.
Chanel has also helped support independent filmmaking, including Stewart鈥檚 directorial debut 鈥淭he Chronology of Water,鈥� film restorations like Wim Wenders鈥� 鈥淧aris, Texas,” film festivals and burgeoning talent behind the camera.
鈥淚 felt, like, mutually seen and supported by these people since I was a very young person,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淔unctioning in like, you know, this sort of industry, business, Hollywood slash fashion world as a kiddo is a bizarro, and with them it鈥檚 always felt incredibly authentic and sort of from a storyteller鈥檚 perspective, and so it doesn鈥檛 surprise me that they want to support storytellers.鈥�
Finch started throwing parties around the Oscars about 30 years ago, mostly for international filmmakers who didn鈥檛 have anywhere to go, he said. The partnership with Chanel has helped make it one of the hottest tickets in town.
鈥淏eing on a film set reminds you that cinema is a universal language. On the film I鈥檓 working on now, the crew includes British, American, French, and Portuguese artisans 鈥� all united by one goal: to bring a story to life,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淭hat spirit is what tonight is about 鈥� and how this dinner originated: celebrating cinema, storytelling, and the storytellers who make the magic happen.鈥�
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