The glamour and charm of the 82nd Venice Film Festival entered a progressive Sunday night, with the Hollywood elite flocking to Amfar Venezia Gala, a wealthy welfare dinner supporting HIV/AIDS research and prevention. From Jude Law and Colman Domingo to Halsey and Jesse Williams, the stars joined philanthropists, researchers and high-profile international customers, raising more than $3.4 million.
Domingo was wearing a bright Valentino jacket and was the host of the night. The prolific actor embarked on a blowout rave at Venice’s historic Arsenai complex, welcomed toasts and stressed the urgency of continuing support for HIV/AIDS research. “Until today, every minute, one person dies of an AIDS-related cause,” he said. “Every minute, two people join the 40 million people who enjoy HIV around the world.”
Amfar is the foundation of AIDS research and is a leading nonprofit organization in the world dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic. Founded in 1985 by Elizabeth Taylor, Amfar has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams around the world. Thanks to this funding, advances in HIV research have led to new preventive options, and provide new treatments for cancer and improved therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases. Amfar’s luxury, star-studded celebrations have become the cornerstone of its fundraising events, with black tie events and high-octane auctions throughout the year in Cannes, New York, Las Vegas and Palm Beach.
At last night’s Venez Gala, the most popular lot was the paintings of famous film producer and artist Julian Schnabel. The Oscar-nominated director spontaneously offered to portray the portrait of the night’s top bidder, sparking a frenzy of bidding wars. Halsey is a Grammy Award-nominated singer for “close” and “no me” – comparable to anonymous phone bidders. After the fierce competition, Schnabel agreed to create two portraits for €500,000 (about $585,000) each, one for anonymous bidder and the other for Halsey, who was recently diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus.
Schnabel also received an AMFAR Inspiration Award for his long-standing commitment to the fight against AIDS. The painter director will show his latest movie Hands in Dante At the festival later this week, the legal honor was accepted.
At the impeccable dressed attendees enjoyed Italian spray, Negronis, Champagne and multi-course Venetian dinner featuring Umbrina, Ava Max filled the parties with top hits including “Sweet But Psycho” and “Kings & Queens.” Guests like Paris Jackson, Sofia Carson and Joan Smalls emanate along the beachfront stage at the venue and sing.
“Every death from HIV/AIDS is a tragedy and we can heal everyone,” Domingo said at the end. “If you carry anything with you tonight, don’t be a sober statistic. Let it be this: We can heal HIV, we will!”
