CANNES (EJP)---The worlds of fashion and film collided on the red carpets of the French Riviera on Wednesday night as the 2008 Cannes film festival kicked off.
Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli’s jewel-dress designed jointly by Italian stylist Alberta Ferretti and Swiss jeweler Chopard attracted much attention from the press.
The unique piece, valued at 700,000 euros, will be auctioned on May 22 at a charity dinner for the American foundation against AIDS.
The film festival was officially declared open by Claude Lanzmann, French director of "Shoah," the monumental nine-hour documentary about the Holocaust.
In his opening speech, Lanzmann praised what he termed "Planet Cinema" for its vastly varying creations -- such as "Jackie Brown" and "Shoah" -- and the fraternity of the filmmaking community.
The 12-day Cannes Film Festival’s competition jury is chaired by American actor Sean Penn.
Penn and his co-jurors, including Nathalie Portman, the Israeli-born US actress, will award Cannes's coveted Palme d'Or prize for best film when the festival ends May 25.
