Polanski scandal disrupts France’s version of Oscars
PARIS — The ceremony for the French version of the Oscars took place in Paris on Friday amid protests by women’s rights activists as director Roman Polanski was awarded, in his absence, the best director award for his latest film.
Polanski decided to skip the Cesar awards ceremony because of protests by women’s groups denouncing the 12 nominations “An Officer and a Spy” received after a French woman brought a new rape accusation against him.
At the announcement of Polanski’s award as best director, some boos emerged from the public composed of film teams and cinema professionals.
Actress Adele Haenel, who recently denounced alleged sexual assault by another French director in the early 2000s when she was 15, got up and walked out of the room, followed by a few others.
“Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims. It means raping women isn’t that bad,” Haenel told the New York Times earlier this week.
The film’s cast and production team, including best actor nominee Jean Dujardin, also declined to attend the ceremony.
Polanski’s film won two other awards, for best costume design and best adaptation. No one came on stage to accept the trophies awarded to “An Officer
and a Spy.”
The entire male-dominated leadership of the Cesar stepped down recently amid disagreement over its decision-making structure and how to deal with the Polanski problem.
A few hundred protesters brandishing signs with phrases such as “Victims, we believe you” and “No to impunity” assembled outside the Salle Pleyel hall before the ceremony started. The group chanted, “We are here, we are here, even if Polanski doesn’t want to, we are here.”
“By supporting the aggressors, by celebrating the aggressors, one does not allow the victims to speak out. Their word is denied,” said Celine Piques of women’s activist group Osez le
Feminisme.
In a statement this week, the Paris-based Polanski said the ceremony was turning into a “public lynching” and that he decided not to attend the ceremony to protect his colleagues and his wife and children.
Polanski is still wanted in the United States decades after he was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor but fled the country on the eve of sentencing.
Last year, a woman came forward to accuse Polanski of raping her in 1975 in his Swiss chalet when she was 18. Polanski denied it, and the allegations are too old for an investigation.