Ron Howard has directed more than two dozen movies over his career, but he admits he still gets nervous every time he’s about to show it to the world for the first time. But with his latest work, a documentary about the iconic photographer Richard Avedon, he felt a tad more confident that the crowd at the Cannes Film Festival would appreciate his portrait of a groundbreaking artist. “I just had a good feeling about the way this audience would embrace the spirit of his creativity and his commitment to blending the commercial work with the more serious subjects, but with the same artistic zeal,” he told Vanity Fair at the after-party.
The film Avedon did indeed play well at the world premiere in the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Sunday night. Afterward, the black-tie clad crowd made their way to a seaside party at Lucia Cannes, cohosted by Imagine Documentaries and Vanity Fair’s global editorial director Mark Guiducci.
In the documentary, Howard captures the groundbreaking genius of Avedon, who not only transformed editorial photography (working with the likes of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New Yorker), but captured pivotal historical and cultural moments through his portrait series documenting the American civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.
The after-party was a warm celebration of both the artist and Howard, who has a long history with chronicling the life and works of artists through his documentaries, which have previously focused on Luciano Pavarotti, The Beatles, and Jim Henson. Howard was joined by members of his Avedon team, including producers Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, and Dallas Brennan Rexer, and editor Andrew Morreale. Avedon’s grandchildren Michael, Caroline, and Matthew, also attended the celebration, and other guests included actor and director Natasha Lyonne, who was in Cannes announcing a new indie studio she launched with Evan Ross and Sean Lennon. As the night went on, partygoers took to the dance floor to bop along to a DJ set from Aldave.
