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Natalie Portman puts on a leggy display in striking red minidress as she joins a glam Helena Christensen at Dior party during Cannes Film Festival

Natalie Portman puts on a leggy display in striking red minidress as she joins a glam Helena Christensen at Dior party during Cannes Film Festival

Daily Mail​18-05-2025
Natalie Portman and Helena Christensen displayed their impeccable style credentials on Saturday night as they arrived at the Dior party during Cannes Film Festival.
Actress Natalie, 43, ensured all eyes were on her in a chic red minidress with a structured voluminous skirt that displayed her long legs.
The elegant number boasted an intricate embroidered pattern and a velvet piping design with a matching belt to showcase the Hollywood star's tiny waist.
She added a cropped tuxedo jacket over the top and elevated her height with a pair of strappy red stilettos as she waved to the crowd of adoring fans that had gathered outside.
While Helena, 56, also cut a dazzling figure at the bash, looking sensational in a black flowing gown with a woven bodice and pleated skirt.
The supermodel flashed a sultry glimpse of her cleavage in the lowcut dress, which she teamed with sparkly sandals and a beaded gold purse.
Natalie made her first appearance at this year's film festival on Friday, as she made a glamorous appearance at the Arco photocall.
She is both a star of the animated film as well as a producer alongside Sophie Mas, voicing the character of Gebeka.
The movie, directed by Ugo Bienvenu, revolves around a boy named Arco who travels through time using rainbows but gets stuck in the wrong era.
While Natalie is said to have found love with a Frenchman, after finalizing her divorce from her ex-husband Benjamin Millepied.
After moving on from her 'cheating' ex, DailyMail.com previously confirmed that the Oscar winner is now dating Tanguy Destable.
The couple were seen putting on a loved-up display in March, as they enjoyed a romantic stroll through Paris, with the producer planting a kiss on her head.
Tanguy, 44, is a famous French music producer, who has previously collaborated with a number of French stars including DJ David Guetta and singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer.
He was previously a member of the electropop group Yelle - alongside namesake artist Yelle, born Julie Budet, as well as GrandMarnier, also known as Jean-François Perrier - for seven years.
As a part of the band, the musician also previously worked with Katy Perry as they opened 18 shows of the pop star's California Dreams Tour in 2011.
Natalie was previously married to Benjamin, 46, for 13 years before she quietly filed to end their union in July 2023.
The split came after the choreographer allegedly cheated on the Black Swan actress with a woman 21 years his junior.
Last year, French outlet Voici released an explosive report claiming he had an affair with 25-year-old climate activist Camille Étienne.
Natalie and Benjamin share two children together, son Aleph, 13, and eight-year-old daughter Amalia.
This year's Cannes Film Festival is taking place in the wake of Trump´s vow to enact tariffs on international films.
Cannes, where filmmakers, sales agents and journalists gather from around the world, is the Olympics of the big screen, with its own golden prize, the Palme d´Or, to give out at the end.
Filmmakers come from nearly every corner of the globe to showcase their films while dealmakers work through the night to sell finished films or packaged productions to various territories.
'You release a film into that Colosseum-like situation,' says Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, who´s returning to Cannes with 'The Secret Agent, a thriller set during Brazil ´s dictatorship.
'You´ve got to really prepare for the whole experience because it´s quite intense - not very far from the feeling of approaching a roller coaster as you go up the steps at the Palais.'
Trump sent shock waves through Hollywood and the international film community when he announced on May 4 that all movies "produced in Foreign Lands" will face 100% tariffs.
The White House has said no final decisions have been made. Options being explored include federal incentives for U.S.-based productions, rather than tariffs. But the announcement was a reminder of how international tensions can destabilize even the oldest cultural institutions.
The Cannes Film Festival originally emerged in the World War II years, when the rise of fascism in Italy led to the founding of an alternative to the then-government controlled Venice Film Festival.
In the time since, Cannes´ resolute commitment to cinema has made it a beacon to filmmakers. Countless directors have come to make their name.
This year is no different, though some of the first-time filmmakers at Cannes are already particularly well-known. Kristen Stewart (The Chronology of Water), Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor the Great) and Harris Dickinson (Urchin) will all be unveiling their feature directorial debuts in Cannes´ Un Certain Regard sidebar section.
Many Cannes veterans will be back, too, including Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning), Robert De Niro - who´s to receive an honorary Palme d´Or 49 years after Taxi Driver premiered in Cannes - and Quentin Tarantino, to pay tribute to low-budget Western director George Sherman.
The much-anticipated eighth and final instalment of Mission Impossible was one of the earlier premieres on this year's Cannes calendar, with its glitzy red carpet taking place on Wednesday.
Meanwhile Scarlett's directorial debut Eleanor The Great, will be unveiled this week on Tuesday.
However, in the wake of his legal battle with former co-star Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni is not expected to attend.
Over recent years the star-studded extravaganza has arguably won more attention for the outfits worn by its celebrity guests than the roster of feature films being screened on the Croisette.
But new nudity rules, devised for 'the sake of decency,' have been implemented at this year's festival.
According to organisers, the austere move is an attempt to stifle the celebrity trend for 'naked dresses' - namely provocative outfits that reveal considerably more than they conceal - on the red carpet.
'For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as any other area of the festival,' states a Cannes festival document.
'The festival welcoming teams will be obligated to prohibit red carpet access to anyone not respecting these rules.'
The surprise new policy features in a recent festival-goers charter - released with a series of outlines regarding expected public behaviour.
Guests are expected to converge on the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière for some of the highest profile film screenings across a packed two-week schedule in Cannes.
It's understood that the iconic venue now adopts a more conservative dress code, with suits, dinner jackets and floor-length evening gowns generally favoured over headline grabbing ensembles.
Classic little black dresses, cocktail dresses, pant-suits, dressy tops and elegant sandals, 'with or without a heel', will also be permitted.
While the decision to implement a more stringent policy will be a first, it is not known if French TV broadcasters, wary of airing nudity, played a role in its enforcement.
Major red carpet events, including the Cannes Film Festival, are aired in France by France Télévisions
Recently attracting more models and influencers than actors and filmmakers, the annual ceremony has seen an increase in risque red carpet fashion statements.
In 2021, American supermodel Bella Hadid bared her cleavage in a plunging black gown while attending a screening of Tre Piani (Three Floors).
She pulled a similar stunt three years later, with guests at the 2024 gala left speechless after she attended the premiere of Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice completely braless beneath a sheer brown evening dress.
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'In 1976 the Swedish king got married, and all of us radicals, of course, were republicans – I have been a member of the republican association for as long as I can remember. And although [regard for the monarchy] wasn't as mad as it is in Britain, I really was depressed about people engaging with that bloody wedding. And me walking around feeling single.' She laughs. 'This idea of coupledom is even more oppressing to young people today than it was in my day. That means it is very oppressing.' We return to the subject of death. Sundström's parents were unhistrionic about it too, she says. 'My mother was a widow for five years, and when she was in hospital, I asked her: 'Are you afraid of dying?' And she seemed surprised at the question. 'No! Why should I be?'' They didn't talk about her being reunited with Sundström's father, which is something, she notes disapprovingly, that people extend to their cats and dogs these days. 'Imagine... what a crowd.' As it was, her parents, 'were both so very calm, because they had lived in the conviction that this world isn't the only one'. This is not what Sundström believes. And yet, thanks to those admirable, religious people in her background, she sees the world much as they did, in terms of social engagement. If she was young now, she says, 'I'd be a Greta Thunberg'. For Sundström, to look at the world and see potential for something better puts the novelist and the activist in a single category: those with the ability 'to imagine something else than this world'. Engagement by Gun-Britt Sundström, translated by Kathy Saranpa, is published by Penguin Modern Classics (£18.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.

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