11/10/2013 - Life Achievement Award for French director Claire Denis and a day devoted to LGBT movies at the 24th Stockholm International Film Festival between November 6-17

When festival director Git Scheynius, of the Stockholm International Film Festival, announces this year’s programme of more than 180 features from 50 countries, she will also name the recipient of Stockholm’s Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 – French director Claire Denis (photo) – and two official guests, who have had to decline their festival invitations.

First no-show is Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose Manuscripts Don’t Burn will screen in the festival’s Spotlight on Freedom, who has had his passport confiscated by the Iranian authorities. Rasoulof lives in Hamburg and Tehran, and when he visited his home country on September 19, he was prohibited to leave. “It is a violation of freedom of speech and basic human rights,” commented the festival director. Depicting how the Iranian government uses censorship against dissidents, Manuscripts Don’t Burn won the international critics’ FIPRESCI award at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival. The spotlight will illustrate how many filmmakers, artists and journalists are still unable to perform their jobs without the influence of censorship. Another non-participant, Chinese artist Ai Waiwei, is also an example of this: he was invited to join the festival jury, but has not been permitted to travel outside of China.

Denis, who will have to carry her trophy - a 7.3 kilo Bronze Horse – from the stage, as have previously Jean-Luc Godard, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, David Lynch and Oliver Stone, will be awarded for “continuing to seek what others turn away from, always fearless and with a rare eye for visual poetry.” The first woman director to receive the prize, Denis has made 20 films since her Chocolat (1988) debut; she is hailed for “managing to close the eyes to the creative and destructive force unleashed by human weaknesses.”

Scheynius will also talk about Under the Rainbow, a new initiative between the festival and Swedish producer-actress Josefine Tengblad (Kiss Me/2011), focussing on films with LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) themes. “Showing Kiss Me at festivals around the world, I wanted to increase the awareness of LGBT-related films in Sweden, and take one more step towards a world without prejudices,” Tengblad said. November 9 will be devoted to the project with films and discussions with directors and actor; the programme includes US director John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings, which will be released in the US on October 16, starring UK actor Daniel Radcliffe as American beat poet Allen Ginsberg.