Inside Chanel’s Women’s Filmmaker Luncheon With Halle Berry, Riley Keough, and More

The 11th annual Chanel and Tribeca Festival women’s filmmaker program, Through Her Lens, began with a toast to Gloria Steinem. “Our world is different because of Gloria,” said Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Enterprises cofounder and cochair of the board. “She spent her life challenging us to extend more, demand more, and never accept that the way things are is the way they’re going to be. We only hope to carry forward some of Gloria’s courage, humor, and her absolute refusal to be quiet.”

It was a fitting tribute given on September 22 at Locanda Verde in downtown Manhattan. There, Chanel and Tribeca kicked off another year of the Through Her Lens program. Like Steinem, Rosenthal and Chanel have spent the last 11 years working together to uplift women. Through Her Lens focuses on those in the film industry and provides support to fledgling filmmakers with funding and hands-on development opportunities. The lunch on Tuesday marked the beginning of a three-day workshop that will bring together those creatives with leading industry voices for conversations, mentorship, and community-building.

But before the workshop came the lunch, attended by Halle Berry, Regina King, H.E.R., Riley Keough, Rosie Perez, and more members of the film industry. They mingled and nibbled on Locanda Verde’s whipped ricotta on toast and perfectly seasoned French fries, only pausing to raise a glass in reverence for Steinem. When Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” began playing on the speakers, the guests clapped along to the beat with glee.

Of course, everyone was dressed in head-to-toe Chanel for the event. Berry wore a jacket from Matthieu Blazy’s debut collection atop a pair of jeans. She arrived just prior to the meal’s start, and quickly grabbed a Bellini before taking a seat. Emmy Rossum, meanwhile, opted for more traditional luncheon attire—the Furious star donned a white tweed mini dress with layered sleeves and a peplum detail. Mary Beth Barone similarly chose a minidress for the afternoon, though she went with a sleeveless option in an attempt to squeeze out a few more days of summer.

Ella Beatty, high on a Ryan Murphy moment with her new Netflix show, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, towered over the other guests, thanks in part to her square-toed heels. She chatted with Barone and Sarah Catherine Hook before the latter peeled off to catch up with her White Lotus costar, Michelle Monaghan. Eventually, the cocktail portion came to an end, and guests were asked to take their seats. Many were hesitant to cut their conversations short, and found themselves seated just in time for a little surprise in honor of Rosenthal’s 70th birthday: A rendition of “Happy Birthday” sung by her producing partner and Tribeca Film Festival cofounder Robert De Niro.