Bucharest - Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has told guests at a Halloween Ball, staged to raise money for impoverished Roma children, that education is the only way out of poverty.
The Hollywood actor is in Romania filming the sequel to Ghost Rider and was the guest of honour on Saturday evening at a ball held in the giant palace of late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
"Education is the only sure way out of poverty, for individuals, families and nations," he told hundreds of guests at the ball, where an estimated $693 000 was raised.
Cage said he was inspired to do humanitarian work after playing an illegal arms dealer in the 2005 thriller Lord of War.