MUMBAI: The Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone has been appointed president of the jury of the International Rome Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place from 27 October to 4 November, 2011.

He will be joined by another leading light of Italy’s cultural and entertainment scene, the ballet dancer Roberto Bolle.

The international jury, which will be composed of other foreign cultural figures, will select the winners of the Marc’Aurelio Award for Best Film, two Marc’Aurelio Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, and the Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Prize from among the films in competition in the Official Selection.

Morricone, a musician of international renown, has received numerous honors and awards, including an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, after many Academy Awards nominations; the Leopard of Honour at the Locarno Film Festival; the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival; and a plethora of Golden Globe, David di Donatello, and Silver Ribbon awards, as well as the Polar Music Prize, which he recently received in Stockholm; it is considered to be Sweden’s Nobel Prize for music.

Bolle became an international ballet star at a very young age. The lead dancer at the Teatro alla Scala as well as the first Italian to be named Principal Dancer with New York’s American Ballet Theatre, Bolle has danced  with the foremost ballet companies in all of the world’s top theaters. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1999, Bolle was invited to take part in the Social Forum in Davos in 2009 as a Young Global Leader.