France's Cesars to honour Kevin Costner

Hollywood actor and director Kevin Costner is to receive a lifetime achievement award at France's annual Cesars ceremony later this month, the academy said Friday. A two-time Oscar winner for the 1990 film "Dances with Wolves", Costner, 58, will receive his honorary Cesar at the French film awards in Paris on February 22. In addition to "Dances with Wolves" for which he won best picture and best director Oscars, Costner has starred in a string of box office successes including "Field of Dreams", "The Untouchables" and "The Bodyguard" with Whitney Houston. The academy said in a statement it was "proud and happy" to announce the award to Costner for his lifetime's work as an actor, director and producer and his "fabulous contribution to cinematic history". Austrian director Michael Haneke's film "Amour", which won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival last year, is among the nominees in the Cesars' best film category. For best foreign film, nominees include Ben Affleck's "Argo" in which he starred and also directed. Last year, British actress Kate Winslet was awarded an honorary Cesar.