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Fashion Labels Deepen Links To Cannes Film Festival

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Luxury fashion labels are increasingly reaching beyond the red carpets and exclusive parties of the cinema world, becoming partners with filmmakers and production companies.

At the Cannes film festival this year, which starts Tuesday, labels will be looking to showcase not only their outfits, but also their credibility as investors.

Alongside corporate heavyweights such as Chanel and Dior, trendy Paris-based label AMI and its founder Alexandre Mattiussi have linked up with the festival for the first time.

AMI is set to present a new award for emerging talent –- the Grand Prix AMI Paris –- at the secondary Critics’ Week section of the festival.

“We’re going there humbly, in support of cinema and its actors, to accompany artists,” Mattiussi, who serves as creative director of his brand, told AFP.

But AMI has also co-produced several films such as “The Beast” in 2023 by Bertrand Bonello, starring French actress Lea Seydoux, or “Enzo” by Robin Campillo which will premiere in Cannes this year.

Fashion and cinema are “in a way, the same job. I also tell stories through clothing. A runway show has a context, music, and this idea of spectacle – it’s a narrative process too,” added the 44-year-old.

But Mattiussi stressed he doesn’t “consider myself a film producer. That would be pretentious.”

“I don’t get involved in the scripts or creative decisions,” he said.

His label contributed to costumes for “The Beast”, much like Jonathan Anderson — newly appointed creative director of Dior Homme and formerly at Loewe –- did for Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 movie “Queer”.

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For years, Anderson’s runway shows have also served as gathering spots for cinema stars, from Timothee Chalamet to Tilda Swinton.

Other fashion houses are expanding their presence in the film industry with Saint Laurent running a division devoted entirely to cinema, called Saint Laurent Productions.

Run by current artistic director Anthony Vaccarello, the division aims to co-produce two to three films per year.

It has already backed works by Paolo Sorrentino (“Parthenope”), David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”), and Jacques Audiard’s 2024 smash hit musical “Emilia Perez”

Kering, the owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga among others, is also the sponsor of a major Cannes prize — “Women in Motion” — which recognises figures who “advance the place of women in cinema and in society”.

This year’s winner will be Australian actor Nicole Kidman.

L’Oreal, the festival’s official make-up partner for 28 years, also sponsors a prize supporting “women in cinema”.

In return, its logo appears behind stars including Eva Longoria, Helen Mirren, Andie MacDowell, Viola Davis, and Aishwarya Rai.

A new sponsor this year will be French carmaker Alpine, which has teamed up with another major parallel section of the Festival, the Directors’ Fortnight.

It will be showcasing its sports cars on the water-front boulevard of Cannes known as La Croisette.

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I was told to renounce Jesus to succeed in Nollywood – Ekene Umenwa reveals

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Popular Nigerian actress, Ekene Umenwa, has revealed that some cabal in Nollywood once told her to trade her Christian faith for success.

She made this disclosure in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

Recounting the pressure she faced from the unnamed individuals, Umenwa stated that she refused to compromise her faith and return to Jesus, whom he referred to as her father for comfort.

Sharing a video of her vibing to the popular gospel song, ‘No Turning Back’, she said “When I came to Nollywood many years ago with my Jesus, I was told by some folks to drop Jesus & Mary to move with the flow so that I can make it. TheY said Ekene this game no be Jesus Jesus oo.

“I was like chimo, is that so? Never. I ran to my father, and Jesus told me to move, ahead ahead. I thank God today that many people have joined me to proclaimed Jesus in Nollywood”.

Recall that the actress became famous for her role in the 2013 movie ‘Black Choir’. And has featured in over a hundred films.

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‘I’m coming in as me’ – Actress Peggy Ovire finally speaks amid divorce rumours

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Famous Nollywood actress Peggy Ovire has finally spoken amid rumours of a divorce from her husband, actor Frederick Leonard.

Recall that Ovire shared a video of herself dressing for a wedding ceremony on Saturday, notably without her wedding band.

Captioning the video, she wrote, “Wedding guest. Transition 101.”


Reacting to the video, a user, @HoldMart, inquired about her marriage, asking, “Where is the ring??”

The development further sparked speculation of a crisis between the couple.

However, responding to multiple opinions about her alleged divorce, Ovire, in an Instagram post on Wednesday evening, noted: “No matter what room I step in, I’m coming in as ME.”


Recall that speculation about a crisis between the Nollywood couple began in 2024, after Ovire shared a solo Christmas photo in pajamas

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French Prosecutors Urge 10-Year Terms For Key Accused In Kardashian Theft

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Prosecutors on Wednesday urged a French court to hand 10-year prison terms to the four men accused of robbing American superstar Kim Kardashian of some $10 million worth of jewellery at a Paris hotel.

The sentencing demands came on the final days of a trial that saw the reality TV star last week tell a packed court she feared she would be killed by the masked men who held her at gunpoint in the early hours of October 3, 2016.

But she also expressed her forgiveness despite the “trauma”, with most of the suspects now in their 60s and 70s and dubbed the “Grandpa robbers” in the French media.

Nine men and one woman have been standing trial, with prosecutors seeking the most severe jail terms of 10 years for the four men accused of carrying out the robbery.

“I know, just as you do, that among the 10 accused, eight proclaim their innocence,” prosecutor Anne-Dominique Merville told the court on Wednesday.

“Yet my firm conviction is that they are all guilty,” she added.

The attackers threatened Kardashian with a gun, tied her up and taped her mouth.

They made off with valuables that for the most part were never recovered, including a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued alone at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).

“They were masked, wearing gloves, they were going to hold her and tie her up. They have no empathy for Kim Kardashian, for the receptionist,” said Merville.

She appealed to the panel of judges and jurors who will decide the verdict on Friday not to be taken in by “the reassuring wrinkles” of the accused and to remember they are charged with involvement in a violent crime.

In this “meticulously prepared” robbery, where “thieves” were recruited, “they came for the ring, they got it, they knew exactly what they were doing,” she said.

The prosecutor requested that the alleged mastermind behind the robbery — Aomar Ait Khedache — be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He has admitted to tying up Kardashian, but denies being the ringleader of the robbery.

Khedache, 69, “gave orders”, recruited others, and travelled to Belgium to sell the jewellery, according to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor accused Khedache of “minimising the violence” even though he admitted to being one of the men who went Kardashian’s bedroom.

“There is no risk of reoffending,” she acknowledged, while adding that he must “pay for his crimes.”

Merville demanded a similar sentence for Didier Dubreucq, 69, who was also in the hotel room according to the prosecution but maintains his innocence.

Yunice Abbas, 71, who wrote a book about the robbery, admitted to arriving at the scene of the robbery with two accomplices on bicycles to “keep watch.”

For him too, “the truth has many facets”, the prosecutor said, requesting a 10-year sentence.

For the fourth suspected member of the team on the night, Marc-Alexandre Boyer, the only youngster at 26 years old at the time, she also demanded 10 years, noting his denials, his past criminal record and the “risk of reoffending”.

Seven-year sentences are being sought for Gary Madar — the brother of Kardashian’s chauffeur — and his friend Florus Heroui, who, according to the prosecution, obtained and shared information about Kardashian’s schedule in Paris.

Eight years are being sought for Khedache’s son, Harminy, accused of being the driver on the evening of the robbery.

The prosecutor wants six years for the only woman on trial, Cathy Glotin, who the prosecution says was responsible for arranging the meetings between her partner Khedache and the accomplices.

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