CANNES WATCH: Celebrities douse in diamonds at De Grisogono

CANNES, France (AP) — Celebrities were dousing in diamonds Tuesday at the glitzy De Grisogono soiree — one of the social event highlights of the Cannes Film Festival.

At the exclusive Hotel Du Cap-Eden Roc hotel in Cap D’Antibes, stars such as Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Mary J. Blige, Adrien Brody, Michelle Rodriguez and Paris Hilton filed through to a garden party that was themed “Divine.”

True to the promise, guests were treated to a bejeweled fashion show and an illumination display with cases of sparkling jewels bewitching the forest setting.

And later “Blurred Lines” singer Robin Thicke hit the decks for a DJ set.

Though guests were here to party, some didn’t forget one of the trending issues at this year’s festival: Raising awareness about the dearth of female directors.

Portman, who is in Cannes with her directorial debut, said she was thrilled her movie, “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” was screened at the prestigious festival.

“It was a great honor and a great panic also to present my film for the first time and now it’s great to experience other arts like (De Grisogono founder) Mr. Gruosi’s,” she said.

Blige, who wore a black cady floor-length evening gown from Emilio Pucci, said that increasing the amount of women in cinema was “absolutely an important issue. We’ve still got so much work to do.”

In the fashion stakes, model of the minute Cara Delevigne was a standout — wearing lashings of emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, twinned with a Grecian white draped gown.

—By Thomas Adamson

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