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French director Claude Lelouch will be celebrated with the Cartier Glory To The Filmmaker Award at the upcoming 81st Venice Film Festival, running from August 28 to September 7.

He follows in the footsteps of Wes Anderson who was last year’s recipient of the award, dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry.

The award ceremony will take place on September 2 ahead of the world premiere in an Out of Competition screening of Lelouch’s new work Finalement, starring an ensemble cast featuring Kad Merad, Elsa Zylberstain, Michel Boujenah, Sandrine Bonnaire, Barbara Pravi and Françoise Gillard.

One of France’s best loved directors, Lelouch first broke out internationally with his 1966 Oscar and Cannes Palme d’Or-winning romance A Man and a Woman, starring Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant as a widow and widower whose fledgling love story is held back by past personal tragedies.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that, while I do watch more foreign films than most of my peers, I have little knowledge of French cinema. There are the occasional French films that pop up on IFC or Sundance Channel, but usually the descriptions don’t inspire me to delve into them. And without this quick reference to French film in mind, I really had no clue about who Francis Lai was. So when this CD was dropped in my lap, I thought, 'Really?' I popped it into my player, and wound up finding that I enjoyed what I heard.

Francis Lai is an accordionist and composer, born on April 26, 1932 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He started out playing in jazz clubs in Marseilles, and eventually moved to Paris, honing his skills as a composer and arranger, and even worked with Edith Piaf. He has since scored over 100 films,...