all about Madonna

Michael Moore stands in front of the State Theatre in downtown Traverse City, Mich. (May 22, 2008) where Madonna is scheduled to appear Aug. 2 for a screening of her film, ‘I Am Because We Are.’ Moore founded the Traverse City Film Festival and invited Madonna to attend the screening, which he announced Thursday

Madonna at the amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS 2008 event in Mougins (May 22 2008)

Madonna auctioned a “private concert” late on Thursday at a star-studded dinner, raising 350,000 euros ($560,000) for AIDS charity amfAR.

The biggest lot on a night of conspicuous spending was a restored 1976 Porsche 911, which went for 500,000 euros after rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs stopped bidding at 450,000 euros.

A diamond-encrusted Christian Dior mobile phone also fetched 120,000 euros.

The annual Cinema Against AIDS gala, hosted by Sharon Stone, is one of the hottest tickets at the Cannes film festival each year, with hundreds of guests traveling to nearby Mougins for an auction dinner held in a giant marquee.

The rich and famous lined a packed red carpet on Thursday, including Madonna, Combs and Stone, actor Dennis Hopper, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and actress Natalie Portman.

“I hope we all leave a little poorer,” said amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole in his opening speech.

He need not have worried, with the cheapest seats going for around $4,000 each, rising to $15,000 for seats nearer the stage. The overall tally for the night was over $10 million.

Stone, who having just turned 50 called it her “birthday amfAR,” showed clips of her travels around the world raising funds for the charity, while Madonna, 49, was in Cannes to promote her documentary about Malawi children orphaned by AIDS.

In what the Cannes media dubbed the “battle of the blondes,” the two stars shared the stage and engaged in friendly banter.

“I don’t say this about many people, but you’re a hard act to follow,” Madonna said. She described co-host Weinstein as “possibly one of the most, I won’t say irritating, but unstoppable human beings I know.

“DON’T HUMILIATE ME”

Madonna offered to sing two songs backstage during her upcoming tour to two “very lucky people.”

“People have offered me millions to play at their Bar Mitzvahs,” Madonna joked after making the offer. When the bidding stalled at 300,000 euros, she added “Don’t humiliate me,” before leaving the stage.

Combs auctioned 24 hours in his company, promising: “I will fulfill your wildest dreams for amfAR and the children,” and “I will wake up with you.” The winning bid was 200,000 euros.

Weinstein could not resist lobbying at least two Cannes jury members in the audience to vote for Steven Soderbergh’s competition entry “Che” as the festival headed towards its final awards ceremony on Sunday.

“If you haven’t seen ‘Che Guevara’ you haven’t seen a masterpiece. If that hasn’t worked there will be cash on the way out.”

source : reuters

Five hundred and forty lucky film fans will get to see the all-time queen of popular music — the one and only, Madonna — live in person when she brings her new documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” to the Traverse City Film Festival this summer.

Madonna will travel to Traverse City on Saturday, August 2, for a gala screening of her new film at the town’s historic State Theatre. Tickets for the event will go on sale on June 7, with details to be announced soon.

“We are both honored and thrilled to welcome Madonna to Traverse City,” said Michael Moore, who founded the festival in 2005. “I saw her film a month ago and was so deeply moved in a way that rarely happens with movies these days. I asked her immediately if she would come to our festival and she said, ‘yes.’ I have known her for years and she is truly one of the most caring and generous people I have met. Her presence here in Traverse City will have a profound impact on people.

“One thing’s for sure, Front Street (in downtown Traverse City) will never be the same again!”

Festival executive director Deb Lake said that details about obtaining tickets will be released next week. Festival organizers predict that tickets for the event will be snapped up immediately.

“We are usually mobbed by large crowds the day tickets to the festival go on sale,” said Lake. “We expect the desire to see Madonna will take us from mob to riot. That’s why tickets to her film will go on sale a month before tickets for the rest of the films in the festival.”

source : traversecityfilmfest

Madonna the documentary-maker came, saw and conquered the world’s biggest film festival yesterday with a powerful polemic on the effects of disease and poverty on Malawi. Next in her sights is the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The queen of reinvention presented her film, I Am Because We Are, which she wrote and produced, to general acclaim. Alongside her was her former gardener Nathan Rissman, who directed.

The film touches on the singer’s high-profile adoption of a baby boy, David, whose mother was killed by Aids. Yesterday she compared the process – which generated many negative headlines – to the pain of childbirth. “It was painful and a big struggle and I didn’t understand it. But in the end I rationalised that when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth she suffers an enormous amount,” she said. “So I went through my own kind of birthing pains, dealing with the press on my doorstep, accusing me of kidnapping or whatever.”

The singer added: “There’s nothing controversial about the adoption. There’s just a lot of bureaucracy and administration because this adoption essentially was the beginning of adoption laws in Malawi. I’m sort of the template or role model, so to speak, for future adoptions, and hopefully after we get through this adoption it will be easier for other people to adopt. I’m happy to be the guinea pig.” Asked why she chose David, Madonna said: “I don’t know, some things are inexplicable. I just felt a connection there. I felt a connection to many of the children, I wanted to take all of them home with me.”

While Madonna is the producer, the film-maker is Rissman, who got to know the singer when his wife worked as a nanny. At various times he worked as her research assistant, video archivist, gardener and “manny” and won her over by making short films of her children, which he her sent while she was travelling.

Rissman spent about six months over a two-year period in Malawi, and has constructed a documentary which at times is heartbreaking. Both said they wanted to continue making documentaries focusing on children, with the Israel-Palestine conflict the next project they are working on. The singer said she would continue to help Malawi, and had bought the land, hired an architect and teamed up with Harvard University to build a girls’ school in the country. She has also built an orphan care centre. The documentary was not part of the main competition.

Yesterday Steven Soderbergh spoke about his pair of movies, screened together for more than four hours, about the life of Che Guevara, which had been keenly awaited but left the audience baffled by their lack of dramatic structure. Soderbergh said critics complained about movies being too conventional and then complained when someone was not conventional enough. Benicio del Toro, who plays Che, added: “When people see the movie for the third time they will start to see it.”

source : the guardian

7 (36) – Madonna – Miles Away (Warner)

source : billboard japan

Tonight’s amFAR gala in Cannes will throw together about 750 guests from the worlds of entertainment, society, art and music. Versace is responsible for the interior decorations, so expect pink, red, blue, yellow and turquoise tables, special lighting and floral designs. Donatella Versace is attending the benefit as a special guest, and she’ll be seated at Madonna’s table.

The Madge will be rocking Stella McCartney’s ruby coral silk satin dress with bow neckline from the upcoming Spring 09 collection. (That’s right, she’s that ahead of everyone fashion-wise.) Fret not, you’ll have all the scoop tomorrow from our intrepid Cannes reporter/film guru Valentine Uhovski.

source : fashionweekdaily
Thanks to nyn1d

Madonna at the amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS 2008 event in Mougins (May 22 2008)

Madonna says criticism of her adoption of a Malawian boy hurt so much, she compared it to giving birth.

“It was painful, and it was a big struggle, and I didn’t understand it,” the 49-year-old singer told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, where her documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” which shows poverty, AIDS and other diseases devastating Malawi’s children, was being shown.

“But in the end, I rationalized that when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount,” she said. “So I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains with dealing with the press on my front doorstep accusing me of kidnapping or whatever you want to call it.”

Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, have been raising David Banda, now 2, since 2006. The singer met David while she was establishing charity projects in the southern African nation.

The couple have a 7-year-old son, Rocco, and Madonna has an 11-year-old daughter, Lourdes.

Critics have said she used her celebrity status to circumvent Malawian adoption laws – allegations she denies. Regulations only stipulate that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule that was bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London.

The adoption still must be approved, and a judge in Malawi was expected to issue his ruling next week.

Madonna said she was “happy to be the guinea pig” for Malawian adoptions.

“Hopefully, after we get through this adoption, it will be easier for people to adopt children,” she said.

Madonna was at Cannes to show her documentary, which she produced and narrated, and to attend a gala benefit dinner for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The film was screened outside the official festival.

“I Am Because We Are” was directed by Nathan Rissman, a first-time filmmaker who has worked for Madonna as a gardener and a caregiver for her children.

“He’s a great nanny,” she said.

“It’s `manny,”‘ Rissman joked.

Rissman said Madonna “loves to give people opportunities” and that he always tried to do his best at whatever task he was assigned.

“And I noticed,” she said.

source : ap