Inside the 2021 MoMA Film Benefit Honoring Penélope Cruz

After a nine-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for her upcoming film, Parallel Mothers, directed by longtime collaborator Pedro Almodóvar, MoMA chief film curator Rajendra Roy knew it was the right time to honor Penélope Cruz at the museum’s 14th annual Film Benefit.

Former co-stars, friends, artists, and cinematic greats gathered in the exhibition halls of the MoMA dressed in head-to-toe Chanel, which has sponsored the benefit since 2011, to toast the decades-long career and dramatic range of Cruz. Rebecca Hall and the event’s co-chair Ricky Martin spoke to the warmth and generosity of Cruz on set, while Rosalía shared memories of the role Cruz played in her upbringing in Spain and inspiration to follow in her footsteps as a global superstar. Her tribute included an impromptu serenade of “A Tú Vera,” which they sang alongside each other in Almodóvar’s 2019 film Dolor y Gloria. The collective gasp from the audience was interrupted by the singer who looked directly at Cruz. “You remember?” The room laughed at her sheer humility and jaw-dropping delivery. 

Attending virtually, Almodóvar spoke to Cruz directly in a heartfelt message in Spanish, citing their immediate chemistry when they first met on set in 1997. The pair of intensely dedicated artists has made eight films together including Volver, Broken Embraces, and All About My Mother which received both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for best foreign-language film. The celebrated director highlighted her extraordinary ability to play a range of mother figures and recalled a promise Cruz once made to care for the director in his old age as a culmination of the characters he created. 

Cruz, a Chanel ambassador, wore a custom red v-line gown deserving of a museum exhibition of its own (a culmination of 700 hours of work). “Fashion and cinema are like a marriage,” Cruz told Vogue of the “privilege” to be honored by two institutions at the forefront of preserving cinema and celebrating the industry. “For us, for actors, it’s a privilege to be able to have moments like this where you can wear haute couture here and sometimes visit the women that are making the dresses and see all the hard work behind it. They are true artists, and I have so much respect for what they do.”

Other guests of the MoMA, all in Chanel, included Kristen Wiig, Diane Kruger, Anne Hathaway, Dasha Nekrasova, Pom Klementieff, Leslie Mann, and Riley Keough. The evening ended with a soulful performance by Giveon, floating across the stage in a black and white Chanel cardigan and wine glass in hand.

The French fashion house’s long-standing commitment to supporting cinema spans the globe from partnerships with the Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and since 2009, the MoMA film exhibition program, among others.

Cruz appreciates the importance of the heritage fashion house’s role in cinematic history. “Some of the characters I’ve played knew nothing about fashion,” she told Vogue. “Other characters, for example, Lena in Broken Embraces with Pedro [Almodóvar], she wore so much Chanel and vintage and incredible pieces and everything was there for a reason.”

The benefit is the chief fundraiser for the MoMA’s film department to ensure the preservation of the world’s greatest works of film and has honored legendary contributors to the industry, including Quentin Tarantino, Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Laura Dern, and George Clooney. 

“She’s been on our shortlist for a long time as someone we want to honor,” said Roy. After being kept apart from theaters for nearly a year, it was important for Roy to look globally when selecting this year’s honoree. “We are always looking to expand the boundaries of who we’re able to celebrate because that elevates the art that they’re involved in.”

Speaking to the depth of Cruz’s career and the future of MoMA’s shortlist of honorees, Roy smiled. “Adventure is always on the menu.”