Sawt Falasteen - Wes Anderson and his A-list cast dazzle at Cannes

Anderson's typically whimsical "The Phoenician Scheme", which also finds roles for Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Kate Winslet's daughter, Mia Threapleton, is in the running for the top prize at Cannes.

It tells the story of risk-taking and accident-prone European tycoon Zsa-zsa Korda, played by del Toro, who looks to bequeath his fictional business empire to his estranged God-fearing daughter.

Del Toro's character is loosely based on Anderson's Lebanese father-in-law.

"He was a completely different sort of person, but he was an engineer and quite alpha," the director told AFP.

"His relationship with my wife is probably the DNA of the movie. He told her one day, 'I need to tell you about how my business works because I won't live forever.'

But "the way he told her about his business was he opened a closet and started taking out shoeboxes and said, 'This is the project that we are doing in Saudi. This is the project we are doing in Gibraltar," Anderson added.

"She came home and she said, 'This is crazy.' So all of that went in the movie," said the maker of such quirky hits as "Asteroid City", "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Darjeeling Limited".

With Anderson's film always thick with stars, the film's red-carpet premiere was packed with celebrities, with Edward Norton, Julianne Moore, Benedict Cumberbatch and Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro also in town.

- Russian frontrunner -

Fellow A-listers Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson were also on the Croisette promenade on Sunday, a day after the premiere of their in-competition film "Die, My Love" by Scottish director Lynne Ramsay.

Australia's Nicole Kidman picked up a Kering Women In Motion award, meanwhile, where she lamented the still "incredibly low" number of women directors in the movie business.

Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme" is one of 22 films competing for best film in the official Cannes competition which will conclude on Saturday.

Critics' favourites from the first week include German-language drama "The Sound of Falling" about inter-generational trauma, and experimental rave road-trip thriller "Sirat".

According to an analysis of ratings by film magazine Screen, the frontrunner is a contemplative drama about justice and cruelty in the Soviet Union called "Two Prosecutors" by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa.

"Russian society today is different from Soviet society in the 20th century but the essence is the same," the 60-year-old director told AFP earlier this week.

"The Phoenician Scheme" was praised by The Hollywood Reporter as a "poignant narrative jigsaw puzzle" while Variety called it "dense but undeniably enjoyable".

Scarlett Johansson was not on the red carpet on Sunday, but she will present her directorial debut -- "Eleanor the Great" -- to audiences on Monday.

- Nigerian debut -

Sunday also saw the premiere of Nigeria's first film in an official slot at Cannes.

"My Father's Shadow", the debut feature of newcomer Akinola Davies is set during a 1993 coup, a pivotal moment in Nigeria's recent history, when the military annulled the election and General Sani Abacha eventually took power.

Culture Minister Hannatu Musawa led the large and stylish Nigerian presence on the red carpet for the premiere.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST