Eastwood to receive French honour

Eastwood has made two films about the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945

Hollywood star Clint Eastwood is to be awarded France's highest civilian distinction, the Legion of Honour.

The acclaimed US actor and director will receive the honour at a ceremony in Paris on Saturday.

French President Jacques Chirac will preside over the event at his official residence, the Elysee Palace.

Eastwood, 76, came to prominence as an actor in films such as Dirty Harry. His latest work as a director, Letters From Iwo Jima, has four Oscar nominations.

The Japanese-language film received its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday.

Humanitarian award

The movie tells the story of the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima, in 1945, from the perspective of Japanese forces.

It is a Japanese-language companion piece to the director's other film of 2006, Flags of Our Fathers, which tells the story from the US perspective.

Eastwood received an humanitarian award from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) earlier this month. He was the first ever recipient of the prize.

MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said the star exemplified "decency and goodness of spirit in his moviemaking".