Dori’s World: A Night with Audemars Piguet and React to Film’s Screening of “Let’s Talk About Sex”

First stop on the Monday night agenda was the Audemars Piguet watch event and auction at the Four Seasons. I had the pleasure of attending with Haute Living Publisher Seth Semilof. Stars were in abundance last night, with many A-listers showing up to show their support for the brand. Vanessa Williams and Jay-Z were both stealing the spotlight for the evening and helping to auction off exclusive Audemars Piguet timepieces for the label’s “Time to Give” initiative. After the main event, we continued on with an after party at the flagship boutique.

The next stop of the evening was a screening hosted by Dennis Paul and Coralie Charriol Paul. Coralie brought the cool crowd back to SoHo House, where she is a founding member, for the latest installment of her “React to Film” screening series, which casts the spotlight on issue-based documentaries shown in front of an intimate audience.

“React to Film” brings together New York’s social and media elite to view films that really matter. Founders Coralie Charriol and Dennis Paul wanted to create another type of screening series, one that was less focused on the star factor and more focused on the subject matter. The goal of “React to Film” is to expose viewers to an important issue, through film, and engage them in a conversation about that issue, ultimately inspiring audiences to change the way they think and at the same time influence the people around them.

The initial screenings started in 2004 with Born into Brothels and then The Flute Player, followed more recently by Food, Inc. and The End of the Line. Last night’s screening was a sneak peek at fashion photographer James Houston’s important new documentary Let’s Talk About Sex, a film that examines how American attitudes towards adolescent sexuality impact today’s teenagers. It was clear that Coralie’s activist film series is needed to support these issue-based documentary films and to raise visibility for them as well as for the filmmakers—and most importantly, to generate a discussion on the kinds of subject matter these filmmakers so aptly depict. After the film, Coralie moderated a discussion with the film’s director, James Houston, which was a highlight of the night. Guests included Eva Lorenzotti, Amanda Ross, Vicky Ward, and Keith and Inga Rubenstein.

The last stop of my night was, of course, dinner at Lion.