Cannes Chief Thierry Frémaux Celebrated at Variety's Exclusive Paris Dinner

Just hours after landing from Los Angeles, where he attended the Golden Globes that saw two Croisette alumni – “Sentimental Value” and “The Secret Agent” — take home major awards, Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux made it straight to landmark 18th century restaurant Lapérouse for Variety’s Paris dinner where he was celebrated as guest of honor. The intimate dinner, which was co-organized by Variety and Laperouse owners Benjamin and Emilie Patou, in partnership with Elsa Huisman’s Cabinet 111, brought together Cannes royalty and French A-listers, including Vincent Lindon (“Titane”); Isabelle Huppert (“The Richest Woman in the World”) who will next be seen in Asghar Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales;” as well as Lea Seydoux (“Dune: Part 2”) who stars in Arthur Harari’s (“Anatomy of a Fall”) next film “The Unknown;” and Gilles Lellouche (“Beating Hearts”) who plays French resistant Jean Moulin in Laszlo Nemes’ upcoming film. The starry night heated up a few more notches when filmmaker Josh Safdie joined the French cinema dinner straight from an AMPAS screening for “Marty Suprême,” the awards-season breakout that just scored a Golden Globe win for Timothée Chalamet. (Photo courtesy of Sebastien Cauchon) Safdie arrived in high spirits alongside “Marty Supreme” costume designer Miyako Bellizzi (who also worked on “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time”), as well as French distributor Victor Hadida, publicist Katherine Rowe and A24 Films’ Millen Lemma. He immediately dived into the room’s French mix, and got into long and passionate conversations with Frémaux and Huppert, before branching out to chat about the making of “Marty Supreme” and Chalamet’s hardcore commitment to the part of table tennis champ Marty Reisman with Anna Marsh, CEO of Studiocanal, and Élisabeth d’Arvieu, whose Mediawan Pictures recently celebrated a four-Golden Globe haul for Plan B’s “Adolescence.” Variety’s third dinner at Laperouse, the event paid tribute to Cannes’ role in showcasing international gems and shaping global awards narrative, as many Cannes films, including “Sentimental Value,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sirat,” “It Was Just an Accident” and “Arco,” are garnering solid buzz in the Oscar race. The presence of Safdie, meanwhile, highlighted the deepening bond between European cinema and U.S. prestige filmmaking. The dinner also gathered rising French talent such as Anamaria Vartolomei (“Mickey 17”) who stars in Pathé’s upcoming “De Gaulle” saga; Rebecca Marder whose latest film “The Stranger” won the Lumiere Award for best film; filmmaker and actor Hafsia Herzi whose directorial outing “The Little Sister” won best actress at Cannes (for Nadia Melliti); filmmaker Cedric Kahn (“Le procès Goldman”); Thierry Klifa, whose movie “The Richest Woman in the World” marks its leading actress Huppert’s biggest hit in decades, having sold nearly sold 1 million admissions; producers Hugo Selignac (“Beating Hearts”), who recently wrapped Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil” starring Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart; Dimitri Rassam (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) and Laila Tahar, who are preparing the shoot of Ladj Ly’s “Black Devil; Olivier Delbosc, whose film “The Wizard of the Kremlin” starring Jude Law and Paul Dano competed at Venice; and Haut et Court’s co-founders Caroline Benjo and Carole Scotta, who distributed “The Richest Woman in the World” in France. Also in attendance were Cecile Felsenberg, co-founder of leading talent agency UBBA; Carrousel Pictures’ head Cecile Gaget; producers Anne-Dominique Toussaint (“Capernaum”); Benjamin Elalouf (“Le procès Goldman”) and filmmaker-screenwriter Noé Debré (“Le dernier des juifs”); Julie Billy (“The Little Sister”); Johanna Nahon (“Les filles desir”); investment banker Gregoire Chertok; author and screenwriter Anne Berest (“A Private Life”); awards strategist Sebastien Cauchon; Cannes’ head of protocol Laurence Churlaud; and “Anatomy of a Fall” producer Marie-Ange Luciani. Along with a choice of cocktails, wines and champagne, guests were treated with a fresh and sophisticated meal that included a marinated sea bass carpaccio with basil oil, tagliatelle pasta with artichokes and truffle shavings and for desert, a vacherin with pear and yuzu. Owned by Patou and Antoine Arnault, Laperouse first opened its doors in 1766 and became a favorite refuge for the Parisian intelligentsia, including philosophers, novelists, artists and eventually filmmakers who would flock the numerous salons lushly decorated with red velvet, filled with paintings, ornate moldings and crystal chandeliers. Tastefully revamped a few years ago by Dior Maison head Cordelia de Castellane, Laperouse was mentioned by Marcel Proust in his iconic novel “In Search of Lost Time,” and served as a backdrop in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” (Photos by Joseph de Vismes)