Palestinian flag to premiere at Cannes

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian flag will be raised next week at the Cannes film festival, which will host their first ever national pavilion.

Film-makers said the new level of representation in the international village of the prestigious festival was a significant step for the fledgling Palestinian cinema industry.

The pavilion, one of around 70 representing countries from across the globe, will give Palestinian film-makers an opportunity to pitch their work to top international industry executives. Mohanad Yaqubi, one of the co-founders of the Palestine Film Institute, said it was a significant moment.

"Almost every year Palestine has a film selected in Cannes but until now we didn’t have an official presence there," Yaqubi, who is also a film-maker, told AFP. "Industry-wise it is very important to have a presence... to network at an industry level," he said in English.

The pavilion will be mostly funded by the Palestinian ministry of culture, which declined to say exactly how much it invested.