Alexandre Desplat to head Venice Film Festival jury

Alexandre Desplat, the film composer who provided the scores for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films, is set to head the upcoming 71st Venice Film Festival jury. It will mark the first time a musician will head the panel of jurors that gives out the festival’s Golden Lion Award and other top prizes.

Desplat, a six-time Oscar nominee, whose previous film scores include Argo, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech, and Philomena, to name just a few, was praised by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera as “not only one of the greatest composers of film scores today but [also] an ardent cinephile, whose extraordinary sensitivity is sustained by a profound knowledge of cinema, of its history, of its language.”

The French film composer, who has already picked up numerous awards over the years, including a Golden Globe, three Cesars, two European Film Awards, and a BAFTA, said,

It is a great honour and an arduous responsibility to be the president of the jury of such a prestigious festival. Italian cinema has influenced both my taste and my music more than any other, and I am proud to be coming to the Venice Film Festival the year after Mr. Bernardo Bertolucci.

The next film to feature a score by the composer will be the horror/fantasy The Tale of Tales, starring Salma Hayek and Vincent Cassel. The Venice Film Festival will take place August 27-September 6.

Do you have a favorite score by Desplat? Did you love his music for the Harry Potter films? Let us know your thoughts!