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BERLIN -- Germany's film stars and the international elite attending the Berlin International Film Festival got out their black ties and glamorous gowns Monday night to raise money for the fight against AIDS.
The fifth annual Cinema for Peace Gala was held at the opulent Konzerthaus at Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt and was hosted by Richard Gere and Milla Jovovich.
Opening the event, Jovovich said the purpose of the gala was to celebrate the spirit of peace and reconciliation "in a city that has proved that the walls we build to divide us can come tumbling down."
In addition to the usual crowd of German celebrities, the guest list included such Hollywood luminaries as Christopher Lee and George Clooney, whose McCarthy-era feature "Good Night, and Good Luck" was screened as part of the festival's Cinema for Peace program.
This year's gala, however, did not include the kind of controversial statements by Hollywood stars that have been a staple of the event. In 2003, for example, Dustin Hoffman used the gala as a platform to denounce the U.S.-led war on Iraq. Last year, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon publicly attacked President Bush and his policies.
This year, Sharon Stone was honored with the Cinema for Peace Award for Social Responsibility for her extensive charity work in the fight against AIDS.
U.K. director Michael Caton-Jones was given the inaugural Cinema for Peace film prize for his Rwandan genocide drama, "Shooting Dogs."
Money raised by the Cinema for Peace gala will be donated to UNICEF and Elizabeth Taylor's American Foundation for AIDS Research.
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Scott Roxborough writes for The Hollywood Reporter.
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