I WAS delighted to read Fionnuala Halligan's article South China Morning Post, May 28, where she referred to ' . . . the traditional French aversion to awarding the Brits anything of note'.

Such a friendly opinion can be better appreciated in view of the fact that the same day, three out of four officially selected British movies were awarded the most important prizes - best actor (Jonathan Price), best actress (Helen Mirren) and Prix Special due Jury (Carrington).

Let me also remind Ms Halligan that a lot of British directors have won the Palme d'Or: Carol Reed, Lindsay Anderson, Richard Lester (an American whose films are officially British), Alan Bridges and Roland Joffe. And in France, British directors such as Ken Loach, Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh, Peter Greenaway, to name but a few, are usually highly praised both by critics and the public.