A Chanel-filled Night at the Museum: Sofia Coppola was Honored at MoMA’s Film Benefit

Photo by: Matt Weinberger

While she’s usually the one behind the camera, on Wednesday evening, Sofia Coppola was ready for her closeup. The auteur was honored at the Museum of Modern Art’s annual Film Benefit, in recognition of her era-defining contributions to cinema. The evening, presented by Chanel, made for a suitably starry reunion.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker’s muses and collaborators were out in force. Elle Fanning, who was directed by Coppola in the 2010 flick Somewhere, turned up in a cream-hued embellished Spring 2026 dress to celebrate her. Also thrilled to be wearing a runway-fresh creation by Matthieu Blazy, Lupita Nyong’o. “It’s a milestone moment, I would say,” she said, happy to support Coppola on her big night. “I really loved her film Priscilla. It is quite an achievement for someone to the tell the story of a woman who really had no agency, but with agency, so I was really moved by her story telling.”

Marc Jacobs, the subject of Coppola’s new documentary Marc by Sofia, was proud as punch, as was designer Anna Sui. The latter is not only a longtime friend, she also created pieces for the aforementioned Priscilla biopic. When Coppola’s social media-famous daughters Romy and Cosima Croquette spotted Jacobs and Sui, they immediately embraced them. As Coppola herself took to the red carpet, the stylish doppelgänger duo—and their dad, Thomas Mars—eagerly snapped videos of her.

Aughts heartthrob Josh Hartnett, who would later take to the stage to give remarks about working with Coppola, told Vogue: “Sofia taught me how to be bold. I don’t know if you know this, but she wrote the script for The Virgin Suicides after the producers told her not to. She was not known in Hollywood at the time and she hadn’t directed anything or written anything that had been produced, so it was a shot in the dark. She was basically just someone who loved the book and felt compelled to write it for the screen. And once the producers read it, they thought it was beautiful and hired her to direct.” Further illustrating how involved she is as a director, he laughed at a memory that she even helped him cut his wig for the seminal 1999 film.

After guests, including Rose Byrne and Olivia Wilde, caught up over cocktails, they ascended the museum’s candlelit staircases for the gala’s seated dinner and program. Elle Fanning—who first worked with Coppola when she was 11-years-old—regaled the room with tales about how the director defined girlhood for her. “I like to say, while I didn’t go to college, I went to New Orleans with Sofia, Kirsten Dunst, and Nicole Kidman [for The Beguiled], and it was there that Sofia shaped me at a another formative period of my life when I was 18.”

The night continued with speeches from Bill Murray, Coppola’s brother Roman Coppola, and her cousin, Jason Schwartzman, as well as a pre-recorded video from her longtime muse Kirsten Dunst. David Letterman also announced a surprise musical performance by Elvis Costello—an artist whom Sofia and Roman listened to religiously while growing up—while pink trays of sweet petite fours did the rounds. A cinematic tribute, indeed.