Roman Polanski Featured At Zurich Film Festival, Wins Award
It was a very different scene in Zurich this week for filmmaker Roman Polanski who was featured at the Zurich Film Festival. Two years ago police in the region took Polaski into custody over rape charges in the U.S. stemming from a 1977 encounter with a 13-year-old actress.
During the festival Polanski grabbed a cinematic award and also released a “memoir” surrounding all of the events that have occurred in his life.
The Rosemary’s Baby director accepted the lifetime achievement award at the festival, a prize he would have received in 2009 if not for his arrest.
This Brunner, a Swiss film and art expert said of Polanski’s arrival at the festival:
“I mean, who else would have the guts to come to this festival after he has been arrested here?” while he added, “He has a unique personality, he has a huge heart.”
According to Zurich Mayor Corine Mauch there appeared to be no anti-U.S. sentiment at the festival, revealing, “He’s a free man in Switzerland and I’m happy that after two years, he is able to get his prize here.”
Polanski still isn’t in the free and clear, 188 countries have Interpol warrants in their system which would force his extradition to the United States. Currently Polanski moves freely between Sweden and France, two countries that offer blanket policies to avoid extraditing citizens.
Roman Polanski’s body of work definitely stands for itself, do you believe he should have been honored in the same place that arrested him just two short years ago?
