Cinefile

When legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard (Band of Outsiders) ended up skipping this year's Cannes Film Festival, he faxed the following statements to the fest's reps:

"Due to problems the Greeks would be familiar with, I unfortunately cannot be at your disposal in Cannes. I'd walk to the ends of the earth for the festival... But alas I will not be taking a single step further."

Now it's looking like Godard may skip another major event: next year's Academy Awards ceremony. After the Academy announced that Godard was chosen to receive an Honorary Oscar, the problem of actually getting in touch with him quickly surfaced. The Independent now has the latest on this developing story:

"..After two days of frantic effort, the Academy has failed to track down Godard to inform him of his good fortune. Letters, faxes and calls have all gone unanswered, and they now suspect that the reclusive film-maker may be deliberately ignoring them.

"We've been attempting to reach him since 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening and we have as yet had no confirmation," Bruce Davis, the Academy's executive director, told Hollywood Reporter. "We have tried by telephone, by fax, and by emails to various friends and associates. We have even sent him a formal letter by FedEx."

Today, he does not have an agent to handle inquiries from organisations like the Academy, so the process of contacting him sometimes resembles a French farce. His phone number is a closely guarded secret, and he is impossible to reach via email, since he still does almost all of his work on a typewriter and refuses to use the internet as a matter of principle."

In the end, can you cinephiles actually picture Godard attending Tinseltown's glamorous ceremony?