Amidst Allegations, Nomination of Roman Polanski Asked To Be Pulled Out

The saga surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct concerning Roman Polanski continues to get muddled in several ways that include the fact that the director's latest film has received an award nomination at the December 7th awards.

And owing to this nomination, several actors and faculty members have joined a group of French feminists and industry professionals who have called on the European Film Awards to remove Roman Polanski's nomination for An Officer and a Spy ahead of the December 7th Awards. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cesar winners Andrea Bescond and Eric Metayer (Little Tickles), Speak Up director Amandine Gay and Kabul Kitchen actress Catherine Zavlav are also among the signatories, along with activist Clementine Vagne who led the petition to prevent Polanski from serving as president of the Cesar awards in 2017.

An Officer and a Spy premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury prize. The period drama, about the Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongfully convicted of treason in 19th century France, is the frontrunner at the EFAs, with nominations in the main categories —best film, best director and best screenwriter — for Polanski. It also scored a cinematography nod and a best actor nomination for Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin.

The nominations were announced just days after actress Valentine Monnier came forward with her story of allegedly being raped by Polanski in 1975 in the newspaper Le Parisien, which was corroborated by contemporary witnesses. Monnier said she was compelled to tell her story now after reporting on An Officer and a Spy drew comparisons between Polanski and Dreyfus, suggesting the Polish director was also the victim of false accusations. In an interview for the film, Polanski said he felt "persecuted" by people "who harass me, do not know me and know nothing about [allegations against me]."