French composer Alexandre Desplat wins Best Original Score Oscar

French composer Alexandre Desplat won the Academy Award for his soundtrack to the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel on Sunday night. He was also nominated for the soundtrack to Imitation Game.

Composer Alexandre Desplat holds his award at the 2015 Oscars. Reuters/Danny Moloshok

The prolific French composer had already been nominated seven times for his soundtrack to movies such as Argo or The King’s Speech.

This prize came as a surprise. Hollywood’s forecasters had announced Johann Johannsson as the big winner for his soundtrack to the movie The Theory Of Everything.

“An Oscar is an Oscar. It’s the greatest reward a filmmaker can dream of. I think this says it all,” said Alexandre Desplat backstage after winning the award.

Desplat, 53, is the seventh French national to win an Academy Award in a category relating to music.

He follows in the steps of Maurice Jarre, Michel Legrand or Ludovic Bource who won the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score with The Artist in 2012.