Spain honours Woody Allen

Allen: A bridge between U.S. and European cinema

MADRID, Spain -- U.S. film director and comedian Woody Allen has been awarded one of Spain's most prestigious awards.

He was presented with the 50,000 euros ($47,210) Prince of Asturias Prize for the Arts on Tuesday for his achievements as an actor and director of off-beat comedies.

The jury praised the 66-year-old star for "his huge creative talent and his work as writer, scriptwriter, actor and film director."

It hailed Allen as a "key man in recent cinema history" whose "ironic sensitivity has established a bridge of union between American and European cinema for the benefit of both."

Allen has won three Oscars, including two for the 1978 comedy "Annie Hall."

He made his debut at the Cannes film festival in France last month.

The awards comes as Allen is embroiled in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a former friend and producer, denying assertions that the filmmaker's advisers were a group of hucksters who had brought a "bogus" suit.

Allen is suing Jean Doumanian, her boyfriend and their production companies for more than $10 million, in New York.

The key issue is over money he believes the former backers owe him for eight movies they made together.

The Asturias prize is one of eight given annually by Spain's Crown Prince Felipe de Bourbon to recognise outstanding achievement in the arts, literature, science, communications, peace, international relations, sport and social sciences.

The Asturias Foundation has awarded four prizes this year. Its literature prize was won by veteran U.S. playwright Arthur Miller.