GENEVA (CBS/AP) Roman Polanski, whose absence at the Venice and Toronto Film festivals  was duly noticed, will be one of the stars of this year’s Zurich Film Festival.

Polanski will accept the festival’s lifetime achievement award that he was unable to pick up two years ago after being arrested at Zurich airport.

Photos: Sean PennPhotos: “Carnage” at Venice

After months of imprisonment and house arrest, the Polish-French director successfully avoided extradition to the United States on charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He has been able to travel unhindered to Switzerland since.

However, he steers clear of countries like Canada and Italy that have extradition agreements with the United States.

Polanski’s “Carnage” was a hit at Venice. The movie, based on the Tony-winning Broadway play “God of Carnage,” stars Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, 온라인바둑이사이트 John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster.

Also to be honored in Zurich is actor Sean Penn, who is to receive the festival’s Golden Icon Award for his lifetime achievement as an actor, director and producer.

American actor Laurence Fishburne, who was just been replaced by Ted Danson on the TV show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” is among the feature films judges.

The seventh installment of this festival begins in Switzerland’s biggest city Thursday and runs through Oct. 2.