At a swanky Casa Loma gala, Paul Haggis’ charitable organization Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) held its annual fundraiser. The castle was fully decked out in florals and crystal chandeliers, under which the likes of Haggis, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, AnnaLynne McCord, Sophie Tweed-Simmons and a well-dressed crowd of moneyed Torontonians dined, wined and opened their wallets in a silent auction.
The top earning items? A day on set with James Franco went for a sweet $120,000. A walk-on role in Paul Haggis’ next film, along with a day on set with the director, hit $195,000. To up the ante, McCord offered to kiss the top bidder on the lips and encouraged others to part with their cash using interpretative dance moves. Obviously the girl isn’t shy.
With a heartfelt speech. Mirren presented Sarandon with an award to honour her years of service to APJ. She reminisced about Sarandon’s run-in with police in 1999, where Sarandon was one of 219 people arrested at a NYC disobedience protest: “”We’re pretty sure the FBI has a file on Susan… and now also on all of you.”
Sarandon followed with a speech of her own, saying “APJ allows people to preserve their culture and use their imagination. Once you imagine, you have empathy, and once you have empathy, you must be involved.” In case you couldn’t guess, Sarandon got a standing ovation.
Moby took the stage after midnight and even the most glam partygoers couldn’t resist dancing the night away in their floor-length gowns and towering stilettos. The evening raised a total of $1.2 million to support health, dignity and education initiatives in Haiti.
See more from TIFF, like our interview with Susan Sarandon, here.
sabrinam@nowtoronto.com | @sabrinamaddeaux
