Champagne at the Shangri-La
A packed week of gatherings surrounding the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off with the Sept. 5 unveiling of The C Wall, a colossal new champagne installation in the Shangri-La Hotel’s lobby lounge. A crowd of Toronto notables including Eric and Dana Margolis, Sylvia Mantella, Michael Burns, Velvet Haney and Max and Heather Gotlieb popped in to marvel at the hotel’s latest attraction. Later in the week I spotted actor Viggo Mortensen, in town for his film Jauja, at the base of the wall. Not far away was Chris Evans, Captain America himself, who passed though the lobby after the pre-screening party on the upstairs terrace for Wild, his new flick co-starring Reese Witherspoon.
The new C Wall at the Shangri-La Hotel. Photo by Joee Wong
Heather and Max Gotlieb. Photo by Nolan Bryant
Kelley Burns-Coady of Perrier Jouet. Photo by Nolan Bryant
Baubles from Maison Birks. Photo by Nolan Bryant
Curator Rui Amaral Mateus, left, and gallery owner Daniel Faria. Photo by Nolan Bryant
Armani party for Films of City Frames
Few Torontonians visit the CN Tower unless they have out-of-town visitors in tow. On Sept. 6, however, it was high on everyone’s go-to list (and the only TIFF venue on my calendar that included a full-on security check!) thanks to a skyborne party hosted by Roberta Armani (niece of Giorgio) and the Academy-Award-winning director Edward Zwick. The two came together to celebrate the Films of City Frames project, a collection of shorts created by six internationally renowned film schools. The movies, backed by Giorgio Armani, had their premiere earlier that day and went live online the next. Among the guests, many wearing Armani, were Jessica Chastain, Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Laura Dern, Anthony Mackie and 11-yearold Quvenzhané Wallis, adorable in tiny tuxedo pants; the DJ Mark Ronson set the musical tone. Richard Gere, who helped put Armani on North America’s fashion radar when he sported the designer’s relaxed suits in 1980’s American Gigolo, also made the 350-meter trip to the top of the tower, triggering a moment of pandemonium when he got there.
Jessica Chastain, left, and Chloë Grace Moretz. Photos by George Pimentel
Quvenzhané Wallis.
Laura Dern.
From left, Denzel Washington, Roberta Armani and Edward Zwick.
DJ Mark Ronson.
Eyewear by Giorgio Armani.
Artists for Peace and Justice gala
The following evening, an impressive $1.5-million was raised at the annual Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) fundraiser, which was held at another Toronto landmark, Casa Loma. Event co-chairs Sylvia Mantella and Natasha Koifman welcomed guests for sunset cocktails in the garden and then a gala dinner in the greenhouse, where talk turned to the business at hand: raising funds for Haitian relief. “Every penny we raise goes directly to helping children get the education and life skills they need to thrive in their own communities,” the founder of APJ, Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis, told the sold-out gathering of film folk and philanthropists (Brattys, Kimels, Bitoves, Rogerses and Daniels among them). During the event, Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott served as auctioneers of one-of-a-kind experiences, including a meet-and-greet with designer Diane von Furstenberg and a chance to attend a sound check with Sir Paul McCartney. Determined to keep the big giving going, Haggis stepped in with a surprise auction prize: a walk-on role in director Jason Reitman’s next film. The experience went for $40,000, a major component of the impressive final total.
Photographer Caitlin Cronenberg. Photos courtesy of Artists for Peace and Justice
From left, Suzanne Rogers, Vonna Bitove, Jenna Bitove Naumovich and Sylvia Mantella.
From left, Paul Haggis, Jason Reitman and Drew and Jonathan Scott.
From left, Haggis, George Stroumboulopoulos, Father Rick Frechette, Natasha Koifman, Madeleine Stowe, Dr. Reza Nabavian and Dana Maksimovich.
*Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Perrier Jouet.