Stars mobilise for abducted Nigeria girls on Cannes red carpet

Mexican-US actress and producer Salma Hayek-Pinault (C) holds a cardboard reading "# Bring back our girls", as a sign of support for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls as she arrives with French director Paul Brizzi, US director Roger Allers, US director Joan C. Gratz and French director Gaetan Brizzi for the screening of the film "Saint-Laurent" at the 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 17, 2014. AFP PHOTO / VALERY HACHE

By  AFP

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  • Hayek and Gayet posed with the signs for a long time before climbing up the steps to the festival hall in the French Riviera resort.

Mexican film star Salma Hayek and French actress Julie Gayet branded signs saying #BringBackOurGirls on Cannes' red carpet Saturday, joining global calls to free 223 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militants in Nigeria.

Hayek and Gayet posed with the signs for a long time before climbing up the steps to the festival hall in the French Riviera resort.

They are the first stars at the Cannes Film Festival to publicly take a stand for the schoolgirls using the now world-famous hashtag on Twitter also promoted by US First Lady Michelle Obama earlier this month.

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Islamist group Boko Haram abducted 276 girls in restive northern Nigeria on April 14, and while some subsequently escaped, 223 are still missing.

The kidnapping sparked global outrage and the girls' fate has since become the focus of a global campaign.

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