Jean-Luc Godard may attend Oscar event

Jean-Luc Godard just may make it to the Governors Awards, scheduled for Nov. 13 in Hollywood, at which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is celebrating his career with an Honorary Award.

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The Academy revealed Tuesday that it had received what it described as "a cordial, handwritten note" from Godard in response to Academy president Tom Sherak's letter to the 79-year-old director informing him of the honor.

"In it," the Academy said, "Godard graciously thanked the organization for the honor and referred to himself as 'the fourth musketeer,' in acknowledgment of the fact that three others (Kevin Brownlow, Francis Ford Coppola and Eli Wallach) are among the year's honorees. His note, relayed to the Academy late last week via an assistant to Godard, indicated that, schedule permitting, he would come to Los Angeles for the Nov. 13 Governors Awards event."

The latest twist in the Academy's effort to honor the elusive Godard contradicts a report in The Australian newspaper over the weekend, in which his companion and producing partner Anne-Marie Mieville cited the director's age as the reason for his not wanting to make the trip.