Cameron Diaz has lent her star power to an inaugural festival aimed at uniting people through film.

Pangea Day is a not-for-profit project created by documentary film-maker Jehane Noujaim, and included films from different cultures screened on television, live webcast and mobile phones to a world-wide audience.

Millions of people around the world took part in the event, tuning in to a live four-hour broadcast of short independent films, some made by refugees using camera-enabled mobile phones, showing how they live their lives.

The UN refugee agency helped arrange video content shot by refugees in several locations around the world.

Video mobile phones were also distributed through UNHCR field staff to refugees in a number of countries including Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Iran, Serbia, Sweden, and the United States.

Diaz, who took part from Los Angeles, said: "What I love about Pangea is that it is exactly what it's meant to be. It's bringing everybody together to show them how similar we all are rather than how different we all are."

The project is aimed at allowing an international audience to benefit from the potential that new technology brings in mass communication, including citizen journalism that creates and disseminates first-hand stories.

Of the 2,500 short films submitted, 24 were chosen for inclusion in the festival.

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