Jessica Chastain, Ariana DeBose, and More Toast a Hollywood Legend at MoMA and Chanel’s Film Benefit

At long, candlelit tables as carefully orchestrated as one of director Guillermo del Toro’s famous film projects, celebrities including Jessica Chastain, Ariana DeBose, and Chloë Sevigny gathered on Thursday night for the Museum of Modern Art’s annual Film Benefit—this time honoring del Toro himself, and his work on his latest release, Pinocchio.

Sponsored by Chanel since 2011, the Film Benefit serves as both a celebration of and fundraiser for the museum’s Department of Film, which houses more than 30,000 films and 1.5 million film stills, restoring and maintaining these projects as well as developing programming for festivals, premieres, retrospectives, and more. It’s an endeavor for which the guests seemed to share a particular passion, especially in 2022, as the streaming giants’s clutch over certain movies makes actually watching them increasingly difficult—if not outright impossible.

“Especially now, we get really comfortable with how disposable entertainment and content is,” Isaac shared during a red carpet interview. “And it takes institutions like this to curate and to preserve stories for the next generation of storytellers.”

Del Toro asserted this view, adding, “It is as important to restore art in film as it is in painting, sculpture—you know, we are trying to preserve a moment in time, a thought in time, a view of the world in time, and a film is very volatile. And requires a lot of care. I, myself, am involved in restoring Mexican films, and I think it is one of the most necessary duties.”

In glittering earrings shaped in the Chanel logo, lace bodices, asymmetrical skirts, and the fashion house’s signature tweed, guests drank, dined, and previewed the new MoMA exhibit, “Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio,” which details the extensive behind-the-scenes work that enabled Pinocchio, out today, to make it to theaters. (Including musical guest H.E.R., who performed in a tweed jumpsuit and leather boots on a stage set up for the dinner guests.)

As del Toro fist-bumped fellow attendees and shared his gratitude during a tearful speech, the room felt his palpable appreciation for what remains an essential task: safe-guarding the art that conveys what language alone cannot. “The only way you can be loved is if you’re loved for who you are,” he told the audience, as a round of applause encouraged him to continue. “Where you have no simulation, and you are not afraid to wear your imperfections as a badge of honor. And this is why I love monsters. And this is why films have saved my life so many times.”