MUMBAI: Oliver Stone will receive the first annual Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Leo The Lion Award on 21 May at the Cannes Film Festival.

The award will be presented to Stone by MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan, at a cocktail reception to be held at the Majestic Hotel.

The award has been established to recognise and encourage artistic excellence in individuals who, through significant contributions to filmmaking, have made an indelible impact on the overall value and merit of the library of MGM released films as well as on the world's movie going public.

Stone's first film on the Vietnam war - Platoon - starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Forest Whitaker, will have a special screening. Platoon which earned $135 million at the US box office during its 1986 release and won the Oscar for Best Picture, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Sloan says, "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is proud of its film legacy. This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Oliver Stone's Platoon. This was not just another war film. It was written and directed by a combat veteran who brought an authenticity to cinema that had not been seen before, and consequently set the standard for all other films concerning the US involvement in Vietnam. MGM is honoured that the 2006 Cannes Film Festival has scheduled a special anniversary presentation of Platoon."

Stone says, "Getting to make Platoon was one of the highlights of my life. To have it shown 20 years later in this great garden of cinema is a deep honour." MGM COO Rick Sands confirmed that Oliver Stone, Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe who star in the film would be travelling to Cannes for the special anniversary presentation.