Hometown guests and those from abroad walked the benefit’s blue carpet before celebrating influential creatives who put their unique stamp on cinema
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography courtesy of GETTY IMAGES
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures gathered guests who made their way across the blue carpet — a hue chosen in homage to an exhibition of Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking movie Jaws — for the institution’s fifth annual gala held on Saturday, October 18. The filmmaking techniques pioneered, the suspense built, and the minimalist score of the 1975 film have been top of mind amid cinephiles for the past half century — and admired by this year’s honorees, who contributed their own innovations to the medium. Amy Homma, director and president of the museum, and board chair Olivier de Givenchy toasted honorees, including Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, who received the evening’s Luminary award from Wim Wenders; comedian Bowen Yang, who was given the Vantage award by Jon M. Chu; Icon recipient Penélope Cruz, who was introduced by Zoe Saldaña; and songwriter Bruce Springsteen, who took home the inaugural Legacy award, presented by Martin Scorsese.
Head-turning designs from Glenn Martens for Martin Margiela and Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli, worn by Los Angeles residents Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber, set an avant garde tone for the night. Jeff Goldblum selected a tuxedo complete with a black puffer jacket, white ruffled shirt, and black wide-leg pants by ERL, Eli Russell Linnetz’s California-based line. One of Grace Ling’s three-dimensional printed metal pieces made up Coachella Valley–born Jenna Ortega’s sculptural two-piece ensemble. Rebecca Hall’s trompe l’oeil from one-time L.A. resident, Thom Browne, had an equally surreal look.
A host of attendees, including George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Scorsese selected Armani suits, an homage to the designer who ushered in an era of elegant red carpet dressing and recently passed away at 91. Also on hand for an evening that included bites prepared by Nancy Silverton and Wolfgang Puck Catering and raised more than $12 million for museum exhibitions, education, and public programs were hosts Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, Jennifer Hudson and Alejandro Ramírez Magaña. Joining them were Bong Joon Ho, America Ferrera, Ava DuVernay, Kathryn Bigelow, Ayo Edebiri, Barry Jenkins, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, Benny Safdie, Channing Tatum, Kerry Washington, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Dwayne Johnson, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, Mikey Madison, Kate Hudson, Gael García Bernal, Jennifer Hudson, Jeremy Allen White, Kaia Gerber, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall, LaKeith Stanfield, Laura Harrier, Michelle Monaghan, Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup, Olivia Wilde, Quinta Brunson, Sydney Sweeney, and Ted Sarandos and Nicole Avant.
Feature image: Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese.
October 20, 2025
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