US actor Jack Black, surrounded by dozens of people in panda costumes, carries out the first big publicity stunt of the Cannes Film Festival. This year’s fest has a lot of serious flicks, but fun gets a look-in with movies like the animated ‘Kung Fu Panda

The disasters in China and Burma cast a shadow on the official opening of annual showbiz event

The Cannes film festival moved into top gear yesterday after officially unrolling its red carpet with a star-studded ceremony kicking off the 12-day frenzy of movies, parties and deals. But as the curtain went up, real world disasters taking place on the other side of the globe peeked in.

Gala opening

Opening night red-carpet glory was for Brazil's two-time Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles, whose hardhitting film "Blindness", about a world where people have lost their sight highlights a near apocalypse and a government unable to deal with a human disaster.

Its sombre note struck a chord with  head of this year's Cannes jury Sean Penn. He said human disasters such as those unravelling in China and Myanmar could not be forgotten.

Attending the opening ceremony were stars Julianne Moore, Eva Longoria, Dennis Hopper, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal and Faye Dunaway.

A savvy mix of Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse fare, the festival in the next days will feature the world release of the latest long-awaited episode of  "Indiana Jones".

Striking a note of contrast, hours before Cannes' twilight gala opening, Hollywood star Jack Black was boated in to be

greeted by dozens of giant pandas in a promotional stunt for Dreamworks' "Kung Fu Panda", also being released here.

Squaring up against the

pandas and arthouse directors at this year's Cannes will be Hollywood heavyweights Clint Eastwood and Steven Soderbergh.