The British Director Ken Loach Receives Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2023

The legendary auteur of politically engaged social realism Ken Loach is this year's recipient of Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 and will receive a Stockholm International Film Festival 7.3-kilogram Bronze Horse. Mr Loach will participate in an exclusive Face2Face at the Skandia Theatre, November 9th.

Motivation:

Ken Loach, two-time Palme d'Or-winning director, has been captivating audiences for over 50 years and has become a role model within the British film tradition.Through his social engagement, he has poignantly portrayed the consequences of inequality and laid bare the class divides that exist in our society.
This masterful director has created style-defining films of exceptional quality that not only deeply touch the audience but also have a significant impact on the contemporary world. Stockholm Film Festival is proud to honor filmmaker Ken Loach with the Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2023.

The British master of social realism and humanism, Ken Loach, who turned 87 this summer, is known for a series of films about people's pursuit of a better life. During his five decades in the industry, Loach has received much praise and awards, including the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2006 for ››The Wind That Shakes the Barley‹‹ and again ten years later for ››I, Daniel Blake‹‹ (2016). Loach and the screenwriter Paul Laverty are a close-knit team, and with ››The Old Oak‹‹, they make their fourteenth film together since their first joint project, ››Carla's Song‹‹ (1996).

››The Old Oak‹‹ is this year's Cannes submission from Loach and Laverty, who borrowed the title from The Old Oak - a pub struggling for survival in an increasingly depopulated northern English mining town. When a group of Syrian refugees arrives in the community, tensions rise among the villagers. However, pub owner TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) befriends the refugee Yara (Ebla Mari) and soon begins to see opportunities rather than threats.

- We feel very humbled to once again welcome one of Europe's foremost directors, Ken Loach, to Stockholm. Still fully active, and at the age of 87, not only has he delivered one of his best films, he still travels the world as a constant standard bearer to speak for those who don't have such strong voices. A warm welcome to Stockholm Mr. Loach!, says Beatrice Karlsson, Head of Program, Stockholm International Film Festival.

The Swedish premiere of ››The Old Oak‹‹ by Ken Loach takes place at the Skandia Theatre at 6.00 pm on, Thursday, November 9th. Ken Loach will accept the Bronze Horse following the screening and will participate in a Face2Face conversation in Stockholm.

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››The Old Oak‹‹ will have its Swedish Movie Theatre premiere on January 26, 2024.

The Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a person active in film whose life's work deserves to be illuminated and honored. The prestigious prize, the 7.3-kilogram Bronshästen (Bronze Horse) – the world's heaviest film prize – is a paraphrase of the Swedish Dalecarlian horse and was created by Swedish designer Fredrik Swärd. The prize has previously been awarded great names within the film industry such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Lauren Bacall, David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Susan Sarandon and Paul Schrader to name a few.