An Israeli animated documentary probing massacres in Lebanon and a Clint Eastwood drama starring Angelina Jolie led the running at Cannes Sunday as the festival prepared to crown the best film.

The competition for the coveted Palme d'Or at the 61st edition was marked by hard-hitting pictures grappling with war, poverty and corruption.

"Waltz With Bashir" appeared to be leading the pack with its unflinching look at Israel's indirect involvement in the 1982 slaughter of Palestinian refugees in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila camps.

Israeli director Ari Folman, a former soldier, unravels his own repressed memories of the horror of the killings with the first-ever animated documentary at Cannes.

"I hope young people will watch this film...and I hope it might help them see that war really is about them just being used as pawns by other people," Folman told AFP.

Audiences also embraced "The Exchange" featuring Jolie as a mother battling police incompetence and corruption to learn the fate of her kidnapped son.

A heavily pregnant Jolie made a second Cannes appearance on the red carpet with partner Brad Pitt to promote "Kung Fu Panda", a cartoon kids movie in which she lends her voice to a tiger.

She was considered a hot pick for best actress honors in a year marked by a series of strong female performances.

Puerto Rican-born Benicio del Toro led tips for best actor for his turn as Latin American revolutionary Ernesto Guevara in the four-hour-plus epic "Che" by Steven Soderbergh.

Italy's Toni Servillo was also in the running for his riveting performance as seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti.