British director Ken Loach will receive the award at the 2012 Lumiere Festival in Lyon, which runs October 15-21.

At the 2012 Lumiére Festival in Lyon, France, British director Ken Loach will receive the prestigious Lumiére Award, which denotes lifetime achievement in film. He is the fourth person to be given the accolade, which has been awarded annually since the festival’s inception in 2009, following on from Clint Eastwood, Milos Forman and Gérard Dépardieu.

Bertrand Tavernier, president of the Institut Lumière, stated, “The Lumière Award is, first of all, a way of celebrating a magnificent body of work that includes numerous successes. It is also an expression of gratitude toward a man who remains loyal to his ideals, in a time when refusals are worn on jackets like decorations.”

Ken Loach’s latest film, The Angel’s Share, screened in competition at the recent Cannes Film Festival, receiving the Jury Prize. He previously won the Palme d’Or in 2006 for Irish war drama The Wind that Shakes The Barley.

The 2012 Lumiére Festival will run from October 15 to 21, 2012, with Loach receiving his award on October 20th.