As Chinese people across the country are striving in the relief work
for earthquake victims in Sichuan Province, joining them in France at
the just opened Cannes Film Festival will be a fund-raiser originally
planned to promote Chinese films. The fund-raising event will be
part of the Chinese Film Night at the May 14-25 festival. China Central
Television's Movie Channel -- the organizer for Chinese Film Night --
is still working out details of the event. A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the
Richter scale jolted Wenchuan in Sichuan Province on May 12, killing at
least 14,800 so far.
"24 City," the only Chinese entry for the
prestigious "Golden Palm" award at the Cannes festival, was shot in
Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu, the nearest major city to the
epicenter. Director Jia Zhangke has donated 30,000 yuan (US$4,284) to quake relief efforts. The annual Cannes International Film Festival is among the world's
oldest and most prestigious film festivals. Besides "24 City," other
Chinese films to be screened or promoted this year include John Woo's
"Red Cliff" and Gordon Chan's "Painted Skin."
24 City
