Blanchett, other movie stars spotlight plight of refugees

Wallet, phone, high school diploma and a one-way ticket - just a few of the things refugees may grab as they cast one last look around their home before fleeing.

"What they took with them" is a new video featuring Oscar-winning actor and UN ambassador Cate Blanchett and a cast of celebrities urging governments to ensure schooling, health and shelter for refugees ahead of a major UN summit on the crisis.

Launched by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Monday, the film shows Hollywood actors - including Keira Knightley, Jesse Eisenberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor - performing a poem listing items refugees took with them as they fled into exile.

"I think it captures the sense of 'what would I take? 'What would I do?'" Blanchett said to fellow Australian actor Chris Hemsworth in an interview live-streamed on Facebook.

"For me, one of the powerful things in the poem was...