China's "Blair Witch Project" to premier in Cannes

A new poster of The Possessed is released for Cannes screening. [Photo:china.org.cn]

Though no Chinese films are on the competition at this year's Cannes festival, Chinese film makers are still representing in southern France.

Ma Kai's pseudo-documentary thriller, "The Possessed" is due to make its world premiere at Cannes.

Shot on a shoe-string budget of just 10-thousand US dollars, "The Possessed" is being dubbed the Chinese "Blair Witch Project."

The cast and crew are all amateurs, including housing agents, welders, restaurant workers and broadcasters.

Ma Kai himself is a high school graduate and part-time actor.

The film has already recieved accolades at the FIRST Film Festival Xining last year, and revolves around superstitions in rural areas of China.

Since its debut at the FIRST Festival last year, more money has been poured to reshooting the film through "angel investors" such as Tencent.

The money has been going into the hiring of professional crews and post-production teams.

A theatrical release date in China has yet to be set.