Stars mobilize for abducted Nigeria girls on Cannes Red Carpet

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

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.

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.