PARIS: Britain s Stephen Frears, director of box-office hit The Queen and other cult movies, on Wednesday was handed a prestigious French arts award for his prolific, witty, high-standard and cheeky body of work.
The 67-year-old director, who in 2007 headed the jury of the Cannes film festival, was given the Commander of Arts and Letters award by Culture Minister Christine Albanel.
I m like Peter O Toole, I only accept awards from republics, Frears told AFP, in a reference to the veteran Irish actor who turned down an honorary British knighthood.
I have always loved French cinema, he added, recounting that his first film at age 8 or 9 or thereabouts was the Jacques Tati comedy Jour de Fete.
Then there was the French New Wave, he said.
Frears, who studied law at Cambridge before going into television in the late 1960s, won movie notoriety in 1988 with Dangerous Liaisons, based on a novel by French 18th century writer Choderlos de Laclos.
And his latest movie Cheri, due for release in the coming months, is based on a book by another French author, 20th century writer Colette.-AFP
