Poitier gets France's highest honour at Cannes festival

France named Sidney Poitier commander of the Order of Arts and Letters Thursday, in a ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival.

"You are the champion of equality between men," Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said in presenting the American actor with France's highest honour.

When Poitier won the Academy Award for Lilies of the Field in 1964, he was the first black performer to take an Oscar for a leading role.

France said it was honouring Poitier for tearing down barriers for blacks in Hollywood.

Poitier's memorable screen roles include The Defiant Ones, In the Heat of the Night, A Patch of Blue and Guess Who's coming to Dinner.

Poitier, 79,and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai joined Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks and author Dan Brown on the red carpet at Cannes.

The Da Vinci Code, a Hollywood blockbuster that is not in competition, has dominated Cannes hype, but as the 11-day festival gets underway other films are grabbing critical attention.

Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley, about two Irish brothers fighting British rule in the early 1900s, is among 20 films in competition for the main Palme d'Or prize. The overtly political filmscreens on Thursday.

Southland Tales, another sci-fi outing from Richard Kelly, the maker of Donny Darko, has already racked up film deals. It has an unusual cast, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake and American wrestling star The Rock.

Among the other entries from around the world are Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette.