Monica guest of honour at France's Lumiere Awards

Actors Monica Bellucci and Jean-Paul Belmondo will be guests of honour for the 23rd edition of The Lumiere Academy awards.

The event will take place on February 5 at the Arab World Institute here. The distinction as guests of honour is reserved for actors whose work has helped illuminate French cinema across the world, reports variety.com.

Bellucci, who started her career with Italian TV in 1990, has featured in French productions like "Asterix and Obelisk: Mission Cleopatra" and "The Apartment" with her long-time partner Vincent Cassel and her international breakout feature, Gaspar Noe's "Irreversible."

The award focuses mainly on contributions to French cinema. But the Academy will also pay tribute to Belluci's decades-long international career as well, including the 2015 James Bond instalment "Spectre", a season 3 role in Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle" and the Wachowski's "Matrix" films.

Veteran actor Jean-Paul Belmondo started acting for the screen in the mid 1950s. His first role in a feature was in 1957's "On Foot, on Horse, and on Wheels", where he acted alongside Jean-Pierre Cassel, Bellucci's former father-in-law.

Belmondo has worked in films like "Breathless", "Pierrot le Fou" and "That Man from Rio".

Belmondo is also a recipient of two BAFTA nominations, a Cesar award, a career achievement Golden Lion at Venice and an Honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes.

--IANS

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