France's prestigious Prix Louis Delluc has been awarded toArnaud Desplechin's Rois Et Reine.

At a small ceremony at Paris' Fouquet's restaurant on theChamps Elysees on Friday, Desplechin accepted the prize from Cannes Festivalpresident Gilles Jacob who also heads the Delluc jury.

The prize for best first film, a relatively new category,went to Yolande Moreau and Gilles Porte for their work Quand La Mer Monte.

Rois Et Reine, the story of two ex-lovers, willbe released this week in France and stars Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Almaric.Desplechin's previous films include EstherKahn and Comment Je Me Suis Dispute'(Ma Vie Sexuelle).

Quand La Mer Monte stars Yolande Moreau and Wim Willaert in acomedy/love story which also took the audience award at the RencontresInternationales de Cinema a Paris earlier this year.

Rois Et Reine beat Olivier Assayas' Clean, L'Esquiveby Abdellatif Kechiche, S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine by RithyPanh and Andre Techine's Les Temps Qui Changent.

Quand La Mer Monte competed with Eleonore Faucher's A Common Thread,Demi-tarif by Isild Le Besco, Retour A Kotelnitch byEmmanuel Carrere and Violences And Echanges En Milieu Tempere byJean-Marc Moutout.