Menzel receives lifetime achievement award

Jiří Menzel, the director of the 1966 Academy Award-winning film Closely Watched Trains and the key titles as part of the Czech New Wave, has received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to world cinema at the International Film Festival of Kerala in India. The 78-year-old was on hand to accept the award personally on Saturday. The festival's jury acknowledged Mr Menzel's humanistic view combined with sarcasm and provocation, as well as his ties to the Czech literary tradition.