President Nicolas Sarkozy personally presented France’s highest honour to Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer who pushed French movie ‘The Artist’ to Oscar glory. Weinstein, accompanied by his wife, was given the Legion of Honour award in the president’s office in the Elysee palace in central Paris. The Elysee said the award was planned before the silent movie ‘The Artist’ crowned its spectacular awards season success by winning five Oscars, including the Best Picture prize late last month. The film’s director Michel Hazanavicius said Tuesday that he was uncomfortable with mooted plans for a lunch to be hosted by Sarkozy, who is seeking re-election in May, for the stars and crew of the movie. “We found a good solution,” he said. “We go eat with the president and then we go see the other (Socialist) candidate, Francois Hollande.” Weinstein, the 59-year-old co-founder of Miramax Films, scored Oscar glory for the second year running with ‘The Artist,’ after last year’s win for ‘The King’s Speech’. After ‘The Artist’ triumphed at the Cannes film festival last May, Weinstein snapped up the US distribution rights, and turned an art-house movie into a mainstream hit feted by critics and the public alike.
