Harvey Weinstein: French film's golden age is now

PARIS (AP) — Harvey Weinstein says “The Artist” is just the beginning.

The Hollywood titan who produced the French-born silent film, which won five Academy Awards, says “France is about to have a golden age of cinema.”

And Weinstein says the movie’s success has paved the way for a foreign film — with dialogue — to win a best picture Oscar some day soon.

“We’ll break that barrier too,” Weinstein told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The expansive New Yorker was feeling particularly well-disposed to France after a Paris party celebrating “The Artist” and getting the esteemed Legion of Honor award from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, to Weinstein’s joy, turned out to be a big movie buff. Weinstein also says he’s a big fan of a law Sarkozy championed to crack down on Internet piracy.