How Sandra Bullock Got the A-List Laughing at the Celebration of Women in Film Awards

A room jam-packed with Hollywood’s most celebrated women might seem more intimidating than inviting, but thanks to the hilarious Sandra Bullock, the ice easily broke at the Women in Film 2015 Crystal + Lucy Awards last night in Los Angeles. Following a live auction and cocktail-hour mingling, Bullock took the stage in a two-toned jacquard Monique Lhuillier dress to present The Tiffany & Co. Bruce Paltrow Mentorship Award to Warner Bros. president Sue Kroll. “There is so much power in this room right now. We are all going to be on the same menstrual cycle after tonight," Bullock joked. "A shift is going to happen. Not to just a handful of us, not to just several dozen of us, but to all of us.”

Continuing the levity, the evening's host, Maria Bello, cited a glass of wine and a cigarette as the cure for her nerves—but also shared her thoughts on the milestones that women in Hollywood have reached since she was awarded the first Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award a decade ago. “Many of us were still looking up at a glass ceiling,” she said. “Many of us were still wearing one glass slipper, waiting for our prince to find us. He didn’t. We shattered that ceiling with one good shoe. And now, we move on to the future, where no one can stop us.”

After film director Ava DuVernay was prized with The BMW Dorothy Arzner Directors Award, Kate Mara (in Max Mara, above) was honored with this year’s Face of the Future Award: “I stand in awe of so many familiar faces and unfamiliar faces of people whose careers I have followed and whose films I’ve seen, who I have hopes to meet, and who have been an inspiration to me throughout the years.”

And although a seated dinner beckoned guests inside the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, many, including Kristen Stewart (above), Lake Bell (below), and Keith Urban, roamed the room forging new friendships. “There’s so much camaraderie in the room that it’s not unheard of to take someone’s card and actually utilize it one day,” Bell said.

The night’s most heart-warming moment came when Naomi Watts presented long-time friend Nicole Kidman (below) with The Crystal Award for Excellence in Film. “Let’s take risks, let’s raise our voices, honor the fire within and ignore our fears,” Kidman said in her sequined Max Mara dress. "In short, let’s stand tall and never, ever apologize for it.”

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