Outcry as Paris hosts Polanski film retrospective
A RETROSPECTIVE of Roman Polanski’s films due to open in Paris tomorrow has been branded “indecent” as the controversial director faces new rape allegations following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Polanski, who lives in France, is wanted in the US over the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Earlier this month he was accused of another underage rape by a woman who said he assaulted her in the Swiss Alps in 1972.
An online petition demanding the cancellation of the retrospective has gathered more than 23,000 signatures.
Laure Salmona, who launched it, said France had tolerated abusive sexual behaviour from politicians, celebrities and employers for too long. “It is time to end the culture of rape that gives rise to language aimed at minimising, excusing and perpetuating sexual violence.”
She added sarcastically: “The timing of this homage could not be better, right in the midst of the Weinstein scandal.” In January, Polanski, 83, was forced to abandon a plan to host the César awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, after an outcry by women’s groups. More than 60,000 people signed a petition in protest.
Yet the Polish-born director, whose films include The Ghost Writer, The Pianist and Chinatown, continues to be feted by large sections of the French establishment and leading figures in the arts.
A feminist group has called for a demonstration outside the state-subsidised French Cinémathèque during the inaugural session of the retrospective on Monday, when Polanski is to present his latest film, Based on a True Story.
The Cinémathèque, headed by the Greek-French director Costa-Gavras, has refused to cancel the event, saying its role was not to moralise.
“The Cinémathèque does not intend to substitute itself for the law,” it said in a statement, dismissing the objections as “censorship”.