Cannes 2007

Brangelina face media at Pearl film launch

Xan Brooks
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday May 22 2007 15.14 BST
The Guardian, Tuesday May 22 2007

Angelina Jolie promoting A Mighty Heart at Cannes 2007

Snapped up ... Angelina Jolie at Cannes. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt chose an unlikely forum for what was being billed as their first official public appearance together yesterday. The couple collectively known as Brangelina took their seats at the press launch for A Mighty Heart, the sole British feature in this year's Cannes line-up. Predictably enough, they arrived to a storm of flashbulbs.

"This doesn't feel that different from normal, actually," Pitt said. "We've usually got cameras following us everywhere we go."

Directed by Britain's Michael Winterbottom, A Mighty Heart stars Jolie as Mariane Pearl, the widow of the murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl. Pitt co-produced the picture through his production company, Plan B.

Daniel Pearl was investigating possible al-Qaida links in Karachi when he was kidnapped and eventually killed by Islamic militants in January 2002. The film is based on the memoir by Mariane Pearl, who was five months' pregnant at the time of the abduction.

Yesterday Mrs Pearl confessed to having mixed emotions on viewing Winterbottom's picture. "I think about my son, who is going to have to see this film one day, and it pains me," she said.

The memory of her husband's ordeal was still fresh in Mrs Pearl's mind. At one stage the film recreates a scene in which Mrs Pearl berates the US reporter Chris Burns for asking whether she has watched the video of her husband being beheaded. It transpired that Burns was at yesterday's press conference. "I do regret asking you that and I do apologise," he told Mrs Pearl. "My question is: do you forgive me?" Pearl responded with a tight smile. "I accept your apology," she said.