CANNES, France (AP) — Sean Penn tried to turn the conversation at the Cannes Film Festival to Haiti, hosting a fundraiser for the earthquake-ravaged and poverty-stricken country.

It was the first time the festival has used its glitzy, global spotlight to attract attention for a cause not connected with a movie.

Penn, director Paul Haggis and model Petra Nemcova brought their individual charities together for a black-tie dinner Friday evening to benefit their organizations and renew attention to the Caribbean country. Designer Giorgio Armani co-hosted the gala.

"A film festival is not simply about films, ever," Penn said. "This isn't a film, what we're doing now. It's not a film when we stand outside and we take pictur

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When Snoop Dogg passed through Willie Nelson's neck of the woods during South By Southwest in March, he took some time to pay tribute to his unlikely friend.

He regaled reporters with mostly NSFW stories about time the pair spent together in Amsterdam, sharing their mutual love of music, marijuana and fried chicken. The always lighthearted Snoop also got serious when talking about his friendship with Nelson and the 79-year-old singer's unique role as a musical ambassador.

"When I first met him you would think he was a hip-hop artist because he showed love to me as if I was in his world and I never made country music or none of that, but he understood who I was," Snoop said. "And it drove me to make coun