Angelina Jolie to oversee Cambodian film festival

Angelina Jolie is to take the helm of a film festival in Cambodia while she is in the country shooting her latest movie.

The Hollywood actress, who adopted her eldest son Maddox from Cambodia, is back in the region to work on her new film project, First They Killed My Father, about the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970s.

Angelina has now thrown her support behind the Cambodia International Film Festival, agreeing to serve as president of the 2015 event's honorary committee.

"Cambodia's rich history, long culture and talented people mean it has a huge amount to offer the region and the world," she says in a statement. "I'm proud to support the Cambodia International Film Festival and Cambodia as a home for vibrant and innovative filmmaking."

The mass killings under the Khmer Rouge regime, which targeted many artists, musicians and filmmakers, crippled the country's creative industries. Festival adviser Cedric Eloy, who also heads the Cambodian Film Commission, has now thanked Angelina for shining a light on the country's re-emerging movie industry by taking on the post.

He explains that Angelina's work with the festival will "bring attention to the rebirth of the Cambodian film industry".

The festival kicks off in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on 4 December (15) and runs until 10 December (15).

The news comes after Angelina revealed two of her sons have both landed jobs on the set of First They Killed My Father - Maddox, 14, is helping with research on the film, and Pax, 11, is working with the photography department.

"Pax is doing a lot of the stills (photography)," Angelina told America's People magazine. "The whole movie is from a child's point of view."

Maddox previously worked as a production assistant on his mother film By The Sea, which also featured his adopted dad Brad Pitt, but Angelina made sure the youngster was kept away from the set whenever his parents were filming uncomfortable scenes.

"Every time we had a fight scene or sexual scene he obviously wouldn't be near us. So he had to work in the parking lot," she explained. "But he read the scenes of the day - I didn't even know! One day he came up to me and said, 'Really interesting script, Mom.'"

Angelina and Brad have four other children together - Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne.