Composer Gabriel Yared to be honoured at Diff

French-Lebanese composer Gabriel Yared will receive the Arab Lifetime Achievement Award at Dubai International Film Festival this year, taking place between December 7-14 at Madinat Jumeirah.

The Grammy-winning composer is being recognised for his contributions to cinema.

Yared, a self-taught artist, has worked on more than 100 original scores since the 1980s. He created the score for The English Patient (1996), earning him an Academy Award, a Bafta, a Golden Globe and a Grammy. He has also been nominated for awards for his work on The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) and Cold Mountain (2003). In 2004, Yared made headlines when his score for the film Troy was rejected, due to negative reactions from a test audience who found it to be too “brassy and bold”.

Yared is currently working on a score for The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, directed by Xavier Dolan, and starring Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Michael Gambon.

“Each aspect of film requires an impressive depth of talent and we are thrilled to recognise the musical inspirations from Gabriel Yared’s career. A true master of his craft, Yared’s work has been the backbone to the ever-changing film industry,” said Diff chairman Abdul Hamid Juma.

Yared said he is “delighted and honoured to have been selected to receive this prestigious award. My sincere thanks go to all those involved in Diff.”

Previous winners of Diff’s Lifetime Achievement Awards have included Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, Faten Hamamah, Adel Imam, Jameel Rateb, Sabah, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn and Shah Rukh Khan, among others.

Media, students and industry professionals may now register for the 13th edition of Diff online, through diff.ae.