French feminists, who have been accused of a series of sexual assaults, have disrupted a retrospective of filmmaker Roman Polanski in Paris by staging a topless demonstration against the Franco-Polish director.
Polanski, aged 84, presented his latest film “Based on a True Story” at a retrospective launch. The bodies of two women were smeared with the words “Very Important Pedocriminal” as a protest against the filmmaker, who has been accused of sexual assault.
They were swiftly evicted from the prestigious film archive premises of the Cinémathèque Française and continued their protest alongside other individuals who were waiting outside.
“If rape is an art form, give Polanski all the Cesars,” read one banner waved outside the venue.Output: “If sexual assault is considered a form of artistic expression, award Polanski with all the Cesars,” read one banner waved outside the location.
The director was forced to pull out of presiding over the French awards – the Cesars – after feminist groups called for a boycott of the Oscars in January.
At the age of 43, Polanski, who is being sought after in the United States for engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, appeared at the demonstration against Polanski, which attracted a number of individuals, including several men.
Polanski’s appearance took place during the ongoing worldwide conversation on sexual misconduct, which escalated following the allegations that resulted in the downfall of Hollywood magnate Harvey Weinstein.
The prevailing atmosphere in the demands for condemnations were excessive, but Polanski stated that he avoided discussing the Weinstein scandal or his own history of sexual misconduct in an interview with the France 5 channel, which will be broadcasted on Monday.
Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu, representative of “Dare to be Feminist,” expressed, “It is significant for us that the retrospective is called off and that the Cinémathèque offers an apology.”
The team was responsible for a petition endorsed by over 27,000 individuals to request the termination of the month-long occasion.
“Replace the justice system” is not its intention, according to Greek-French director Costa-Gavras, who stated last week that he and the president of the Cinémathèque, which receives partial funding from the government, have ruled out canceling the event.
Françoise Nyssen, the minister responsible for culture, affirmed that the exhibition had been planned long before the conversation ignited by the Weinstein scandal.
“It’s about a body of work, not about a man,” she said. “It’s not for me to condemn a body of work.”.
The director of “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown,” Roman Polanski, admitted to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, resulting in 42 days of initial detention before being released due to good conduct. Additionally, the more serious charges of rape were dropped.
Despite multiple attempts to extradite him, Roman Polanski, a fugitive who has been on the run from the US justice system for decades and fled to France, was finally convinced by a judge to abandon his plea deal and face imprisonment in 1978.
Earlier this month, Swiss prosecutors confirmed that they were investigating new allegations of rape made against Roman Polanski by a woman who said he assaulted her in a Swiss resort in the Alps in 1972.
Polanski, who has publicly denied accusations of sexual assault brought against him by at least four women, has been accused of sexually assaulting him by the fewest number of women, at least four, who have come forward with new claims.