Tony Barson/WireImage.comUPDATE: On the red carpet before the amfAR benefit auction Thursday night in Cannes, Madonna, with hubby Guy Ritchie by her side, told E! News that making I Am Because We Are, a documentary about the plight of children orphaned by AIDS in Malawi, "was the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. Ever.
"It's about people and every time I watch it I go on the journey I went on when I made it all over again and I cry. I'm thrilled that people have been touched by it."
I Am Because We Are, which boasts Madonna as an executive producer, screened Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival.
Asked how her Malawian son David, whom she's still in the process of adopting, is doing, the Material Mom replied, "Wonderful. I love him so much, he's incredible."
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Madonna's inflated ego helped result in some rather inflated bids at the annual amfAR benefit auction held in Cannes last night.
The pop star-hosted star-studded bash succeeded in raising more than $10 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, a record for the veteran event, which also featured performances from Mary J. Blige and Dita Von Teese and the usual auctioneering from Sharon Stone, whose Cinema Against AIDS gala is one of the hottest tickets at Cannes every year.
Among those spotted walking the red carpet last night were Natalie Portman, Joshua Jackson and girlfriend Diane Kruger (who said they flew into town from Paris specifically for this event), Dennis Hopper, Juliette Lewis and Rose McGowan.
"We have a lot of fun and we do whatever we can to do good," a Roberto Cavalli-clad Stone told E! "This event is so important to me. Last year I kissed George Clooney, this year I have no idea what I'm going to do to top that."
How about kiss Madonna?
"For the right amount of money for this charity, I would certainly kiss Madonna," Stone agreed.
While prizes included a private Von Teese striptease (sold for $77,000), the ability to remain in Sean "Diddy" Combs' presence for 24 hours ($314,000), a guitar used on Madonna's Confessions tour ($472,000), and a Stone-owned vintage Porsche ($786,000), some of the more interesting items of the night were those put up on the spot.
Like the contents of Madonna's purse.
Along with her one-of-a-kind diamond-encrusted alligator Chanel bag, Madonna threw in a magnifying mirror, hair clips, skin blotting tissues and the pièce de résistance, lip gloss.
"This lip gloss touched my lips," she said by way of prodding higher bids. It fetched $472,000.
When offering to hawk a kiss, à la Clooney at last year's soiree, she attempted to ratchet up the bids by virtue of the prize's exclusivity.
"That's cheap!" she said of Clooney's 2007 $700,000 take. "Everyone's kissed George Clooney."
"For $700,000, if Madonna and Sharon make out, if someone's willing to pay it and they're willing to do it, then I'm willing to watch," producer and event cohost Harvey Weinstein offered.
But when Madge's price—no smooches for under a million—went unmet, she offered to serenade fans backstage...for the right amount.
"Don't humiliate me!" she warned. "People have offered me millions to play at their bat mitzvahs."
The package went for $550,000. Madonna's exercise in humility, meanwhile, was priceless.
Originally published May 23, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. PT