French producer Charles Gillibert, right, and French-Turkish director Deniz Gamze Erguven celebrate on stage with their trophy after they won the Best First Feature Film award for "Mustang" Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 at the ceremony of the 41th Cesar Film Awards at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
PARIS (AP) --
France's Culture minister has wished success in Hollywood's Academy Awards to "Mustang," a French-produced Turkish drama that took four awards at a ceremony in Paris.
Audrey Azoulay said Saturday the 41st annual Cesar awards -the country's equivalent of the Oscars'- has honored "the French cinema in all its diversity."
"Mustang," whose director Deniz Gamze Erguven was born in Turkey and raised mainly in France, won four prizes including best first film at the Cesar ceremony Friday night.
The Turkish-language film is competing in Hollywood Sunday amid controversy caused by the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations.
The French film industry has also honored "Fatima," the story of an Algerian immigrant woman struggling to raise her two daughters in France, with three awards including "best film."
Television producer Mark Burnett, left, looks on as President Donald Trump arrives for the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with "The Apprentice," is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.
"With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role," Trump announced Saturday.
Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like "Survivor" and "The Voice," but is perhaps best known for teaming up with Trump for "The Apprentice," which first aired on NBC in 2004.
Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name — though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.
The selection of Burnett continues Trump's trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both — including his choice to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," and ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.
Trump's first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on "The Apprentice" and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a "star."
Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump's television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The show presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first... Read More
