[ad_1]
It seems that even the #MeToo movement did not derail Roman Polanski's chances of getting praise despite his status as a fugitive for justice after recognizing the legal rape of a 13-year-old girl and fled to Europe in the late 1970s.
"Roman Polanski won the Grand Jury Prize for" An Officer and a Spy ", despite controversy surrounding the filmmaker's inclusion at the Venice Film Festival," reports The Independent. "The film received positive reviews but also a controversy about Polanski, who was convicted of legal rape in 1978 and was facing other charges of sexual assault."
Polanski did not attend the festival. Instead, his wife Emmanuelle Seigné collected the prize for him. Argentine director Lucrecia Martel, who chaired the jury, said the inclusion of her film made her "uncomfortable" while defending her right to compete.
"I will not congratulate him, but I think it's okay that his film is present at this festival," Martel said at the opening of the festival.
In May of last year, the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Cinema finally expelled Roman Polanski from his group to have him sued a year later, alleging that the Academy n & # 39; She had not followed her own rules when she dismissed a member of her ranks. .
"The Academy has committed an injurious abuse of discretion by failing to act in accordance with the law, the expulsion decision of the Academy is not supported by the conclusions and conclusions of the Academy are not supported by the evidence, "Polanski said in a statement. court action in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Polanski's lawyer, Harland Braun, demanded that Polanski be reinstated "as a member of the Academy in good standing", a status he had enjoyed for more than 40 years.
"The Academy has not complied with its own rules, policies and regulations by expelling the petitioner without notice, without the possibility of being heard, and has deliberately violated the California Corporations Code," said Braun.
In response to the complaint, a spokesman for the Academy said the eviction proceedings were "fair and reasonable".
"The proceedings to expel Mr. Polanski were just and reasonable," an Academy spokesman said Friday afternoon, according to Deadline. "The Academy supports its decision as appropriate."
Strangely, at the time of Polanski's ouster from the Academy, his rape victim, Samantha Geimer, said that the Academy had made an "ugly and cruel" decision.
"It is an ugly and cruel action that only serves the appearance," said Geimer, then 55. "It does not change the sexist culture in Hollywood today and just proves that they eat theirs to survive." I say to Roman, good riddance against bad garbage, the Academy has no real honor, is just public relations "
Geimer was only 13 when Polanski drugged and sodomized him during a photo shoot at Jack Nicholson's in 1977. At the height of the #MeToo movement, five women accused Roman Polanski to have been sexually assaulted in adolescence. .
[ad_2]
Source link