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.

Joan Chen is seen in a poster of Jia Zhangke's 24 City. (Photo from mtime.com)

The fund-raising event will be part of the Chinese Film Night at the May 14-25 festival, Chinese media covering the festival in Cannes reported.

China Central Television's Movie Channel -- the organizer for Chinese Film Night -- is still working out details of the event. Information on the event's date is not available.

A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province on May 12, killing at least 19,500 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 ($4,284) to quake relief efforts, earlier reports say.

The film's cast includes Chen Jianbin, whose actress wife Jiang Qinqin is a native of Chongqing, another big city about 300 kilometers from Chengdu that also sustained damage. Chen Jianbin has reportedly canceled his Cannes trip to stay with his family.

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.

(CRIENGLISH.com May 15, 2008)