Highest French honour for Adoor
Shobha Warrier in Chennai | May 23, 2003 18:38 IST
France has conferred its highest honour on director Adoor .
Adoor is the second Indian filmmaker after Satyajit Ray to win the French Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters Award. "It is a great honour because France is one country which treats cinema as high art," Adoor told rediff.com
France has a long history of recognizing exceptional accomplishments in many domains. These décorations, as they are called, include such societies, or Orders, as the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the Order of Academic Palms, and the Order of Arts and Letters.
The Order of Arts and Letters was established in l957 to recognize eminent artists and writers who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. Before the creation of this Order, artists and writers could be officially recognized only through the Legion of Honor, (and that in limited numbers), or the Order of Academic Palms, if they were connected with education. The only recipient of Legion of Honour from India was Satyajit Ray.
The Order of Arts and Letters consists of three ranks: Chevalier, Officier and Commandeur. Commandeur is the highest in the order. The Order of Arts and Letters is given out twice annually to a few hundred people worldwide.
Laureates who reside outside France are generally notified of their award by the French embassy located in their country of residence and usually receive their insignia in a medal ceremony held at the embassy, a French consulate, or the institution with which they have professional ties.
"Two months ago I had a communication from a French institution called...
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