Ekland and Theron arrived at the showing together

She attended the movie's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival hand-in-hand with actress Charlize Theron, who portrays her in the film.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers stars Geoffrey Rush as the British comedy actor.

Ekland originally branded the casting of Theron a "nonsense" and threatened to sue over her portrayal in the movie.

But Ekland, 61, and Theron, 28, posed for photographers at Friday's screening after meeting each other for the first time.

"She's my date," Theron said.

Benefit

Meanwhile Hollywood actress Sharon Stone hosted a star-studded Aids benefit at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.

Liza Minnelli and Rod Stewart were among the guests at the event, which raised a reported $1.8m (�1m) for the American Foundation for Aids Research.

Sharon Stone and Liza Minnelli perform at Thursday's Aids gala

The benefit is an annual event at the festival, which ends on Sunday.

The Aids gala attracted an eclectic mix of celebrities from the world of cinema, music, fashion and sport.

Cannes jury president Quentin Tarantino and Star Wars actress Natalie Portman rubbed shoulders with Bryan Ferry and tennis player Serena Williams at the event, which featured musical entertainment from Sheryl Crow and a charity auction.

"If you don't have $1 billion you shouldn't be here!" quipped US comedian Chris Rock as he invited bids for a private tennis lesson with Monica Seles.

Stone, meanwhile, poked fun at Stewart's Scottish kilt, remarking: "I've seen his ass twice and we haven't even had an appetiser."

Prodigy star Keith Flint accompanied fashion designer Donatella Versace

Cabaret star Minnelli ended the evening with an a capella rendition of You Made Me Love You, a song made famous by her mother Judy Garland.

Thursday also saw the premiere of 2046, the new film from Chinese director Wong Kar-wai.

Prints of the film arrived in Cannes just two hours before the screening and had a police escort as they were raced to the cinema.

With only three days remaining, The Motorcycle Diaries - a Brazilian road movie partially-funded by the now defunct FilmFour production company - is emerging as favourite to win the coveted Palme d'Or award.

The festival closes on Sunday with the premiere of De-Lovely, a biopic of American composer Cole Porter starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd.