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Steven Spielberg's "The BFG" screened in Cannes

Xinhua, May 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

American Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg's latest film "The BFG" premiered Saturday at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

"The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) tells the imaginative story of a young girl and the giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country.

The BFG, while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country, standing 24-foot-tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, he is the smallest of the giants and a vegetarian. Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie is initially frightened, but realizes the BFG is quite charming. He teaches Sophie all about the magic of dreams. Having both been on their own in the world up until now, their affection for one another quickly grows.

The movie was adapted from a Roald Dahl novel of which Spielburg recalled telling the story to his children when they were young.

Making a movie based on imagination and magic, Spielberg said, " All of us have to believe in magic, the worse the world gets, the more magic we have to believe in."

"Because that magic will give us hope. That hope will cause us to be proactive. And when we have the wherewithal to help, it will put us in a position to get very proactive in a world that needs our attention more than it ever has," the director told the press.

For him, hope comes from magic and "that's what movies can give people. They can give people hope that there will be a reason to fight on to the next day," he said.

The 69th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) runs from May 11 to 22 in Cannes, France. Endit