PHOTO: AFP
The Polish-French director fled the US after his rape conviction in the 1970s and has since faced other accusations of sexual assault. Since sweeping the nomination list for the 45th César awards, many have taken to Twitter to express their outrage.
"If rape was an art, give all the Cesars to Polanski," the French women's group, Osez le féminisme (Dare to be feminists) tweeted on Wednesday. The tweet came hours after France's Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences announced Polanksi's nomination haul in the French equivalent of the Oscars.
12 nominations pour « J’accuse »
— papy vener (@ptomustsena) January 29, 2020
aux Césars, vraiment la honte de la honte j’ai les nerfs
Alain Terzian, the head of the Césars, defended Polanski's nominations, arguing that the body "should not take moral positions" in giving awards. "Unless I'm wrong, 1.5 million viewers went to see his film," he reportedly said.
However, Céline Piques, spokeswoman for Osez le Féminisme told French TV channel LCI, "I am shocked. The 400 cinema professionals who voted for this nomination have applauded Polanski with 12 nominations. 12 is also the number of women today who accuse Roman Polanski of rape. This is not the field of morality, this is the field of justice."
🗣 @millerofficiel, sur #RomanPolanski / #Cesar2020 et les déclarations de @MarleneSchiappa ce matin sur @LCI :
— Audrey & Co (@AudreyAndCoLCI) January 30, 2020
"Elle a vraiment raison [...] C'est incontestable" que du vivant d'un auteur, son oeuvre est impactée [par l'auteur]".
📺 #AudreyAndCo avec @audrey_crespo. pic.twitter.com/pyhzQKJUK8
"By celebrating a fugitive rapist and child sex criminal, we silence the victims," added the feminist group, which said it would demonstrate outside the awards ceremony on 28 February.
An Officer and a Spy is about the Dreyfus affair, a political scandal in France in the late 1800s which saw a French Jewish army officer wrongly convicted of spying. In September, the film won the Gand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Two months later, however, French former actor Valentine Monnier accused Polanski of an 'extremely violent' assault and rape in 1975 when she was 18, in the latest series of sexual assault accusations against the director.
https://twitter.com/soediebee/status/1222795573474078720
Monnier said that the release of Polanski's most recent film had prompted her to speak out. This is not the first time the Césars have faced controversy because of Polanski. In 2017, he was picked to head the awards jury, but stepped down after the move sparked outrage.
Weinstein rape trail conflicted with various portrayals of his character
The initial convicted sex case against the 86-year-old director has dragged on for more than 40 years. Polanski admitted unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, who was a minor in 1977, and served 42 days in prison, but later fled the US over concern that a plea bargain deal would be scrapped.
While Polanski has French and Polish citizenship, he has evaded various extradition attempts by US authorities. France - where he lives - does not extradite its own citizens. A Polish court also rejected a US request when he was filming in Krakow in 2015.
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