Steven Spielberg is now an officer in the French Legion of Honour.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said the honour was prompted by the filmmaker's work on documenting the Holocaust and his efforts to help the war-wracked Darfur region of Sudan.

Spielberg, 61, met with Sarkozy in the French presidential palace on Wednesday.

He was at the Cannes Film Festival last weekend for the world premiere of his new film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, starring Harrison Ford.

The French Legion of Honour is one of the country's highest awards.