Robert De Niro

Stars like Dakota Fanning, Leelee Sobieski, and Catherine Zeta-Jones gathered last night to celebrate the start of the Tribeca Film Festival at Vanity Fair's kickoff party. The bash was held at NYC's State Supreme Courthouse and many of the celebs posed for pictures outside before heading in to start the fun with editor in chief Graydon Carter. Leelee, who arrived with her designer husband Adam Kimmel, wore a white gown from Jil Sander. Dakota, one of the festival's judges this year, was pretty in a pink Lanvin. Catherine broke from working on The Bitter Pill to throw on a silver Michael Kors number and let loose alongside husband Michael Douglas. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner also popped by to say hello during a date night, when their daughter Arabella stayed home. Today marks the official opening of Robert De Niro's 11-year-old cinema event — check out our roundup of highlights from the Tribeca Film Festival since its inception in 2001.

Stars from Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve came out in their finest holiday attire tonight for the East Coast premiere of the ensemble film. Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer, who were also on hand for Saturday's junket and Monday's LA premiere, hit the carpet in the Big Apple and posed for photos. It was a busy day for Zac who kicked things off with an appearance on Live With Kelly then zoomed over to NBC studios where he sat down for a chat with Jimmy Fallon. Jessica Biel also hit the talk show circuit, and made a sexy appearance on the Late Show wearing a white Victoria Beckham design before changing into a sparkly floor-length Valentino to join her costars at the screening.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick left the kids at home and stepped out together for their latest night on the town. The couple dressed in black tie for the Kennedy Center Honors over the weekend, but for tonight SJP selected a playful gray and white dress, and Matthew modeled a traditional navy suit. Jon Bon Jovi and Taraji P. Henson hit the event solo while Robert De Niro was joined by his lovely wife Grace Hightower.

This year's Kennedy Center Honorees were in the company of many celebrities on Saturday night in Washington DC. Meryl Streep was one of the five people receiving the nation's highest arts honor, along with Yo-Yo Ma, Neil Diamond, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and singer Barbara Cook. The President and First Lady, who wore a custom Vera Wang, joined Matthew Broderick, a Theyskens’s Theory-clad Sarah Jessica Parker, John Krasinski, and Emily Blunt for the party. Emily stood out in a bold Notte by Marchesa number, while her sister, Felicity Blunt, wore black to accompany fiancé Stanley Tucci.

Stanley, Emily, and Anne Hathaway completed a Devil Wears Prada foursome with Meryl! Anne brought along her husband-to-be Adam Shulman. She wore a simple black Giambattista Valli that let her new rock shine. Anne's engagement ring made its debut last week, when she and Adam went public with their happy news.

Ryan Gosling popped up at his first Cannes event this evening looking dapper in Salvatore Ferragamo for the Cinema For Peace inaugural dinner honoring Sean Penn for his charitable efforts in Haiti. Leonardo DiCaprio and rumored flame Blake Lively took a break from lounging so he could stop by to say a few words while Robert De Niro, Naomi Campbell, and Uma Thurman sat in the audience. Ryan's arrival in France is later than most of the star-studded crowd as his upcoming flick Drive, costarring Carey Mulligan, is closing out the film festival. Carey debuted newly dyed brown hair this week in preparation for her next role starring opposite Leonardo in The Great Gatsby. The cast of the Baz Luhrmann remake of the classic is close to complete with Joel Edgerton now playing Tom Buchanan after Ben Affleck reportedly passed on the role last month. Carey's not the only link between Leo and Ryan, as Ryan was also momentarily romantically tied to Blake last Fall.

The Cannes Film Festival kicked off with a star-studded opening ceremony that had the red carpet full of famous faces in the French city today. Salma Hayek posed in a gorgeous Gucci Première gown with her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, on her arm, while model Karolina Kurkova stopped for the cameras solo in a blue Armani Prive. Uma Thurman, in a white Versace number, was accompanied by fellow judges Robert De Niro and Jude Law as they made their way up the grand staircase. Longtime couple Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas were also on hand for the start of the festivities, as was international actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who wore Elie Saab. They all made their way inside the Palais des Festivals, where Uma, Jude, and Robert took the stage while Woody Allen and more watched from the audience. The event was just the first of many that will take place in the next week, with expected attendees Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, and Sean Penn all making their way to the luxurious South of France to join in the fun.

Jude Law and Robert De Niro sandwiched Uma Thurman during a photo call this morning in France. The trio make up a portion of the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival, along with other cinema people like Linn Ullmann, Nansun Shi, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Johnnie To, Martina Gusman, and Carlos director Olivier Assayas. Uma, in Dolce & Gabbana, had a white dress faceoff with fellow early riser Rachel McAdams, who was also out today to promote her movie Midnight in Paris. Jude touched down near the Mediterranean just yesterday to get settled before his judging duties commenced. Robert is the head of their group, a task he should be comfortable with after years of helming the Tribeca Film Festival, which just wrapped up recently in NYC. We're in Cannes reporting from some of 2011's biggest premieres, so make sure to stay tuned for the latest red carpet news from the likes of Angelina, Brad, Johnny, and more!