French director of award winners Round Midnight and The Clockmaker to receive Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

French director Bertrand Tavernier is to be honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival (Sept 2-12).

The decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, upon recommendation of Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera.

In his recommendation,Barbera described Tavernier as “a complete, instinctively non-conformist, staunchly eclectic auteur”.

The 73 year-old director has previously presented two films in Competition at Venice: Round Midnight in 1986, which won an Oscar for Best Original Score; and detective film L. 627 in 1992.

Tavernier won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his debut feature The Clockmaker (L’horloger de Saint-Paul) in 1974 and the Golden Bear at the 1995 Berlinale for detective film Fresh Bait (L’Appât).

He won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984 for A Sunday in the Country (Un dimanche à la campagne).

Tavernier’s latest film, comedy The French Minister (Quai d’Orsay), won best screenplay at the 2013 San Sebastian International Film Festival.

As well as receiving this year’s lifetime honour, Venice has named Tavernier the Guest Director of the Venice Classics section, during which he will present a selection of rare, forgotten or underestimated films, which he will introduce before the screenings.