The COVID-19 crisis has forced disruptions in the elaborate process leading up to the Oscars, prompting cancellations of screenings and filmmaker interviews. While aggressively initiating these programs, however, the Academy policy on the Polanski case is to make no comment. “Fantasies of unhealthy minds are now treated as proven facts,” Polanski said in a statement on Thursday. Copyright © 2020 Penske Business Media, LLC. • This article was amended on 3 March 2020 because an earlier version misnamed the French minister for equality, Marlène Schiappa, as Marlène Schiapparelli. Last modified on Wed 29 Jan 2020 16.35 EST ... of Oscars, including best film ... a “child rapist” to stop him winning an Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist. What happened yesterday was wrong and I have been saying this for ever. In one event, titled “Academy Dialogues: It Starts With Us,” panels will review a spectrum of issues on the themes of inclusion and diversity. “Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims,” Haenel told the New York Times, adding that nominating him “means raping women isn’t that bad”. Polanski has denied all the allegations. “A lot of people in France are disgusted this morning. She revealed last year she had been abused as a girl by another director. In the Polanski case, however, his attorney, Harland Braun, argues an absence of review. Polanski’s film, J’Accuse (An Officer and a Spy), about the Dreyfus affair, was nominated for 12 Césars, and won two others – for best adaptation and best costume design. More than 100 angry protestors had gathered to demonstrate against the honour for the controversial director, who is still wanted in the US after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old but fleeing before being sentenced in 1977. The sheer mention of Polanski’s name sparks controversy, to be sure, but the litigation still carries clout. The awards evening opened with the French actor and comedian Florence Foresti, who was hosting the event, announcing “Predators, producers, gentlemen with an electronic bracelet …”. Alexis Poulin, a French journalist and co-founder of an online media site, said many in France felt the same way. His 2002 film The Pianist won him a Palme d’Or at Cannes; also the best director Oscar from the Academy. The elite world of French cinema, one of the pillars of the country’s exception culturelle, was bitterly divided after Roman Polanski was named best director at France’s equivalent of the Oscars. On Saturday, Ursula Le Menn, an activist with Osez le Féminisme (“Dare to be feminist”), the group that organised the protest outside the ceremony, said the award showed that nothing had changed in the world of French cinema. In an interview to promote the film, Polanski admitted he saw himself like Dreyfus: “I am familiar with many of the workings of the apparatus of persecution shown in the film… I can see the same determination to deny the facts and condemn me for things I have not done.

Giving him the prize protects him – it says you cannot reach him and the French cinema elite will stick together: it’s like a cinema mob and he’s the godfather. You will be redirected back to your article in, Kino Lorber Plans North American Release Of Sidney Poitier-Narrated Doc ‘Nationtime’ About The National Black Political Convention Of 1972, Peter Bart: Work From Home Or Go Back To Office? Adèle Haenel, a nominee for best actress, before she walked out of the awards when Polanski was named best director. The Polanski case poses a difficult distraction, coming at a time when the Academy also has many other issues on its plate. He again won a César this year for An Officer and a Spy, a period film dealing with anti-Semitism. We want to hear from you! As a result of the warning, Polanski sought refuge in France; he has never returned. He received backing on Saturday from the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who tweeted: “That the #Cesars waited until #Polanski was absent and could not respond, to mock him, humiliate him, overplay disgust and go so far as to refuse to pronounce his name, that says a lot about where the real “Miserables” were last night.”. For women who have had the courage to speak out about the abuse they suffered, there is an enormous pain seeing this man distinguished,” said Le Menn. “Giving Polanski a prize was quite a statement. All Rights reserved. Marlène Schiappa, France’s equality minister, suggested French cinema was still behind the times and had “yet to complete its awakening, its revolution”. Critics say best director award for J’accuse highlights a deep problem in French society. France's equivalent of the Oscars -- the Cesars -- was thrown into turmoil Friday after director Roman Polanski won top awards, prompting walkouts from actresses and protests outside the …