Round Midnight

Round Midnight is a 1986 American-French musical drama directed by Bertrand Tavernier. It follows Dale Turner, an African-American tenor saxophonist who settles in 1950s Paris; the fictional musician is a composite of real jazz legends Lester Young and Bud Powell, and the screenplay by Tavernier and David Rayfiel draws on Francis Paudras's memoir Dance of the Infidels, written by a man who had befriended Powell during his Paris years.

Turner is played by real-life jazz great Dexter Gordon, who earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Named after Thelonious Monk's composition of the same title, the film features a score by Herbie Hancock that won both the Academy Award and the César for Best Original Score in 1987. The film, in which Martin Scorsese and Philippe Noiret appear in small roles, also received the César Award for Best Sound.