The Los Angeles County Museum of Art raised nearly $7 million at its 15th annual Art+Film Gala on 7 November, a record for the event, as more than 600 guests gathered to honour the artist Vija Celmins and the filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. The evening was presented by Gucci and co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Chow, who has co-chaired the gala in all 15 of its editions, used the evening to announce that this would be her final year in the role. Novelist Rachel Kushner introduced Celmins, followed by a short film about the artist directed by Alison Chernick, while Nicole Kidman paid tribute to Villeneuve before a reel of highlights from his films. Musical guest ROSÉ performed, including the live debut of her new single "New Trick".

In accepting her honour, Celmins, 88, reflected on how Los Angeles shaped her meticulous renderings of oceans, deserts and night skies, a practice that began after she came to America as a child refugee from the Second World War. Villeneuve told the audience that a museum welcoming a filmmaker and putting cinema in the spotlight meant a great deal to him, singling out LACMA for the support it had already given him.

The money raised will support LACMA's initiative to make film more central to its curatorial programming, as well as the museum's broader mission. The total broke the previous year's record of $6.5 million, underlining the gala's standing as the museum's most important annual fundraiser and one of the most coveted invitations in Los Angeles.