Linda, what you think should happen and what is mandated by law are two very different things. Do you understand the court will make no decision regarding probation and sentencing until the judge reads all of the reports, Do you understand at the time of your sentencing, the prosecutor may argue that you should go to state prison or be incarcerated in the county jail?, (to Polanskis attorney) Have you explained to your client all of the possible outcomes? Jonathan Majors on Oscar Favorites, Bad Reviews, and the Road Trip That Made Him Realize He Was a Star, The Best Picture Race Got a Lot More Confusing This Week, Tom Cruise Made the Rounds This Week, but Other Oscar Nominees Got More Applause Than Top Gun: Maverick, How Michael B. Jordans Love of Anime Shaped Creed III Fight Scenes, Translating the Unconscious Into Images: The Cinematography of Bardo, Poker Face Takes Viewers on a Cross-Country Road Trip Without Leaving New York, The 50 Best Movies of 2022, According to 165 Critics from Around the World, All 81 Titles Unceremoniously Removed from HBO Max (So Far), 10 Shows Canceled but Not Forgotten in 2022. . High recidivism cant be an excuse to keep these people locked up, all victims will come forward if it happens again, and we dont need to pay any heed Kinskis real birth certificate. i can only wish you all the worst, and i hope you come to feel deeply ashamed. It is immaterial as to the occupation of the Serge Toubiana By signing up to the Mashable newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications I was asked by friends from the Cannes film festival to sign it. The man has no remorse for what he did as evidenced by interviews he has given. On 1 February 1978, after 42 days in jail, Polanski fled the US while awaiting final sentencing, having pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Many other priests have committed this sort of crime, and they are dealt with most liberally. I have read the facts and testimonies of the case. He drugged, anally raped, performed unwanted oral sex and vaginally raped a THIRTEEN year old GIRL a CHILD. Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown [sic] and international artist now facing extradition. I might not like it, but I can separate the man from his work. Andr Larqui The thing I feel like I gained from it is empathy towards people who have made mistakes. Jean-Paul Rappeneau Feminist groups that challenged him were derided or ignored. Im a liberal, I work at a major studio. I know that before today, when Roman Polanski had only pleaded guilty to raping that 13-year-old girl in 1979, and been accused of raping that 16-year-old girl in 1986, it was like, Big deal . 17 HBO and HBO Max Original Series to Get Excited About in 2023. Woody Allen, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese today added their names to a petition demanding the immediate release of Roman Polanski from detention in Zurich. But Gailey became so frightened by the attention the case attracted, because of Polanskis fame, she tried to withdraw from it entirely. If this was some normal guy from the streets of Chicago you would all be calling for his head. This article was amended on 30 January 2018. How is this even up for debate? Strip polanski of his resume and he is a man. Costa Gavras These included Harrison Ford,. Ettore Scola Making good films does not exempt you from the law. and what does this have to do with children in other countries being raped and starved to death, jarre? Rosalinde et Michel Deville In 2018, Portman apologised and expressed regret for signing the petition. It makes me sad to know so many people who I look up to in the field of the arts are supporters of rape. Yes, Emma Thompson, who last week appeared on. Though he was released from custody by July 2010, over 100 members of the film industry . It is sad that these people think Polanski is above the law!! It was not just statutory rape, it was rape-rape because she said no! Jol Farges One of the petition's signatories was Natalie Portman, who told BuzzFeed(Opens in a new tab) she "very much" regrets putting her name on it. The progressive congresswoman was against the project, which was originally planned for Queens, New York. If Polanski had attended his sentencing hearing instead of fleeing the country, the whole thing would have been over after hed served his time. Details of the assault. The issue is effective consent not whether you like or dislike someones sexual preference or activity. Admitted to the crime and fled the country. When the Harvey Weinstein story broke last October, the reaction among the movie industry was wide-eyed shock that someone so many of them knew and worked with could be a rapist. Polanski raped a thirteen year old girl and fled justice. That does not make what he did any better. I mean, Ted Bundy oh. Furthermore, plea bargains are totally up to the judge, if he felt the deal was too lenient than he was perfectly in his legal right to not honor the deal. Madness. Feminist here! Or else every case involving Stockholm Syndrome would never be tried. 4. Woody Allen is an incredible director. I happen to believe that. I am sure his methods may have changed but sex offenders rarely offend just once. Roger Kahane, Barbet Schroeder By now, celebrities were falling over themselves to defend Polanski. Everyone signing this list should be ashamed of themselves. Petition for Roman Polanski. Jean-Pierre Marois In 1986, he met the woman who would be his next wife, the actress Emanuelle Seigner. Two said to me that it was a special situation because the girl had been up for it (this was a common theory at the time. The talent of Roman Polanski is not questioned. Dear Roman you have my full support. He never was. Marc Sandberg Is this a world gone mad!!! Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Vangelis, By trying to send Roman Polanski to the lions despite all the legal arguments, is something that unfortunately gets and will get more and more out of proportion. From what is known about the criminal proceedings, it seems the judge was basking in the limelight and behaved outragously thus the entire case should be tossed. means nothing. None of what you say changes the gravity of this case and with a lot of crimes the law also operates apart from Thanks to #MeToo and the Time's Up campaign, we are now living in a dramatically different climate when it comes to discussing sexual harassment and assault. Or do I have him confused with some other child-molesting priest? Michael Mann Producer | The Insider In 2008, film-maker Marina Zenovich caught the mood and pushed it further with her documentary, the queasily titled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which argued that Polanski was the victim of gross judicial misconduct during his case. HES SUFFERED ENOUGH. Thank you for not allowing the blood thirsty mob to prevent you from doing what you believe to be right. Ladislas Kijno Jean-Paul Salom The girl said no many times. Polanski was originally indicted for 4 felonies, and the girl agreed to have him plea guilty to statutory rape in order to avoid the circus of the trial. If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski. Polanski is a child rapist probably a serial child rapist. I urge you to read the full transcript of Ms. Gaileys testimony! Given Portman's active involvement in the Time's Up movement, her signing of the petition came from a misplaced sense of empathy. He never admited to raping anyone.. California turns people loose that are highly likely to offend again due to space and budgetary issues. The two directors and more than 100 other filmmakers and actors have signed a petition voicing their. In 2018, Dolan apologised and expressed regret for signing the petition. Nelly Kaplan She has forgiven him. Betrand Van Effenterre Everyone, including he, knew that once he was outside France and Poland (due to French and Polish laws), any country may arrest and extradite him under its own laws. Absolutely despicable by each and every one of these people who signed this petition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom. Pierre Jolivet He should have been prosecuted as well, even if no teenagers were involved in his misdeeds. As for those listed above, their association with this ill-conceived effort will always taint my opinion of them and while I dont necessarily agree that viewing CHINATOWN condones pedophilia there is a certain stink that hangs over anything associated with Roman Polanski and to a degree that stink will rub off on the signatures above. fashion. I ask why she signed the petition in the first place. Free shipping for many products! Not real rape? John Landis What a sad coward. AFP is reporting that a grand assembly of filmmakers, actors and producers from around the world have signed a petition urging the release of director Roman Polanski, who was arrested. Polanski denies the claims. i just cant comprehend how you can just so willingly run to the aid of a man who raped a child. Accept Read More. I could enjoy Sean Connerys work, even though he apparently doesnt have a problem with slapping a woman. Woody Allen, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Martin Scorcese, David Lynch, Wong Kar Wai, Harmony Korine, Stephen Frears, Alexander Payne, Michael Mann, Wim Wenders, Tilda Swinton, Julian Schnabel, and Pedro Almodovar are among the 100 and counting film industry figures who have signed the petition, coordinated from France by the SACD, an organization which represents performance and visual artists. Woody Allen supports him-big shocker (the guy who is now married to the woman who was essentially his stepdaughter). When he then learned she was only 15, he continued to sleep with her for several months, he wrote. Xavier Beauvois I dont know what the rationals might be for those who seek his pardoning, be it moral ambiguity, sycophancy, going along with what they see as hip or simply the belief that the group they belong to is somehow superior and has a right to use common people for their own amusement, but it would be a mistake to give the law a pass to accommodate this utterly reprehensible man. Fanny Ardant Stuck on 'Quordle' #401? Only one person who signed the petition agrees to speak on the record: the actor Asia Argento, who has since accused Weinstein of abusing her. Roman Polanski is a Polish filmmaker who has been a fugitive from the U.S. criminal justice system, since 1978, after pledging guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. He describes grooming Gailey on the drive to the photoshoot: I asked when shed first started having sex, he writes, as if thats a normal thing for a 43-year-old man to ask a 13-year-old girl. It is the most vicious, sickening and coward action, to attack a young child. I propose a boycott of all films and books and plays and machinery created by all those people listed here. 1. Broadly reached out to Almodovar to ask if he regrets supporting Polanski, but he declined to reply by the time of publication. because its just too banal and trivial to enforce our laws? - Le Syndicat National des Techniciens de la Production Cinmatographique et de Tlvision (National Union of Film and Television Technicians) Cant think of a bigger threat to our planet just now. If you are rich, white, and especially if you are famous, the system in extremely biased in your favor. It is also irrelevant if her mother was trying to vicariously enjoy a brush with stardom. Guillaume Stirn I foolishly went along. Wes Anderson Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne Tom Tykwer - Members of the European Producers Club Gee, she got so uptight about cancer-adled, bedridden Sharon Atkins potential release saying she hadnt paid for her crime (and I agree, by the way). Alexander Payne You people that support this kind of act should be ashamed of yourselves. Some think that sex with a child is a crime not just against the child, but against society. Julian Schnabel He is not a sexual predator he is a now a philanthropist. THANK YOU FOR STANDING UP TO THEM. This submitted as a defense of a man who drugs and rapes a child? When he started kissing her she told him: No keep away. When he performed oral sex on her she was ready to cry and asked him to stop. By the beginning of this century, while the general American public remained firmly set against Polanski, the mood in Hollywood was openly in his favour. 8 8 Most Beautiful French Actresses . Emir Kusturica Argue all you want, I dont know ANY 13 year old girls who can hold there Quaaludes & champagne AND still say yes to having sex with a sick, dirty old man. She spread herself and I entered her. Perhaps we can send the children of the signatories of this petition over to Roman so he can drug and sodomize them, as Im sure this whole unfortunate arrest business has him very stressed, and clearly in the opinion of the aforementioned signatories, such a genius deserves to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. My eyes were not open.. What purpose does it serve to lock up Mr. Polanski when the prison space could be used to protect the public from violent offenders? I dont know if you are really helping his case, Woody. Raphael Rebibo If he's lucky.". It feels GOOD. I live in LA, Im a liberal, and I am appalled by the signatures of people whose work I respect on the petition. Watch what happened next. The names on the petition include Natalie Portman, Tilda Swinton, Isabelle Huppert, Penelope Cruz, Diane von Furstenberg, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Martin Scorsese, Monica Bellucci, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Harmony Korine, Ethan Cohen, David Lynch, and Harrison Ford. I have copied this list so that I can keep it for all time (yes, I hold a grudge a long, long, time). 13. People believe that gender equality is improving, but the rest of the data tells a different story. Basically, it all comes down to your threshold of pain. If you continue browsing, that means you've accepted our Terms of Use/use of cookies. We werent saying much now, Polanski writes. I will never again be able to speak to, or look at, Mike Nichols, Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese or any of the other names I recognize here without wanting to scream obscenities at them. Well, so do I. K, Uhlman, please dont get all circus of blood here. We have a duty to protect the innocence of children. That is automatically rape as a child cannot give informed consent. This is a real asteroid-kicking movie. Petition for Roman Polanski. He hadnt committed rape-rape, Whoopi Goldberg said on TV. offender. In 1977, Roman Polanski was convicted of unlawful sex with a minor and fled the US rather than face jail time. I know it wont matter one iota to many of you, which is fine, but I am one person who will do her best to avoid any of your work. - lARP Claude Lelouch The case is not a case of morals. Woody Allen On these facts, everyone agrees. What has changed is how this case is discussed in the public sphere. Believe it or not, I believe that you and I agree. if i was in her position, i would say anything as well. - la SACD Djamel Bennecib BTW, courts do not drop cases because victims want them dropped. Readers, acquaintances and even friends couldnt tell me enough how wrong Id got it. Well, eight years is a long time in sexual mores. Diane Kurys Marco Bellochio A woman known only as Robin M reads her statement claiming Polanski sexually victimized her. Will you too?' The above people think its OK to rape children if you make good films. Why, however, any of you think that this somehow excuses the fact that the man drugged and raped a child is beyond me. The active paedophile is stealing childhoods. "I wore one to DGA," he told Metro. Andre Buytaers Those people dont want justice or protection of children. Roman Polanski is a Polish filmmaker who has been a fugitive from the U.S. criminal justice system, since 1978, after pledging guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. Terry Gilliam Jean-Jacques Annaud Alexander Astruc Here are some tips and tricks to help you find the answer to 'Wordle' #622. Bertrand Tavernier I dont wish to admire anyone who has such a twisted sense of values. Jerry Schatzberg Fonda made his professional. (Page 13), On march 13, 1977, the day you had sexual intercourse how old did you believe her to be?, Are you pleading guilty Freely and voluntarily?. Afterwards, in Polanskis car, Gailey cried. To not face your own actions but run away when you dont like the consequences. Claude Miller The petition demanding "the immediate release" of Polanski attracted more than 100 signatures(Opens in a new tab), including Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, TildaSwinton and Wong Kar Wai. He raped a child. I think the Times Up initiative is wonderful: Ive donated to it because I believe it will make a difference. Cruz additionally attended the Golden Globes ceremony last month in a black lace gown to show support for the Times Up initiative. Lets boycott one, lets boycott all!!! What happened to the feminists? Neilson Barnard/Getty Images. No one should have pity for him - his suffering is completely self-inflicted. Polanski petition signatories, as of September 29th: Fatih Akin At the end of the day Polanski fled not because of a legal transgression on the part of the California justice system but because he thinks hes above the law and does not have to answer to a code of ethics that conflicts with his selfish and perverse tastes. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. Do you have kids??? ", Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com, "I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough. Although the Spanish director signed the 2009 petition supporting convicted child rapist Roman Polanski, Almodovars been scathing when it comes to criticising Hollywoods institutional sexism. Sandra Nicolier Portman wasn't the only high-profile signatory. Should this even be up for discussion? Broadly reached out to del Toro to ask if he regrets supporting Polanski, but he declined to reply by the time of publication. On March 10, 1977, then-43-year-old film director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with six offenses against Samantha Gailey (now Geimer), [2] a then-13-year-old girl [3] - unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a Sam Gabarski I admire Mr. Polanskis work. If youre not going to enforce laws, then whats the point in having any? Pedro Almodovar Reactions to Weinstein come soundtracked with the distinct sound of bandwagon-jumping; thanks to the #MeToo campaign, the public mood is firmly on the side of listening to victims, and Hollywood has keenly followed suit. Wong Kar Wa i feel ashamed sometimes,like a complete whore.but it was of my consent.so i sucked it up,and i never told anyone.if someone were to find out,there is no doubt id say its rape. Ask any rape victim and we will tell you that we would give anything if the rapist had been prosecuted and locked up forever before we were victimized by them! Like all arguments in Polanskis defence, the documentary stresses the previous tragedies in his life: his mother, four months pregnant, was killed in the Holocaust; his wife, eight months pregnant, was brutally murdered by the Manson family. Jarre, he admitted to sleeping with a 13 year old child, whose age he knew. We demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski, urges the petition. I was mostly just on and off saying: No, stop. But I wasnt fighting really because there was no one else there and I had no place to go. These people who hold such power over the media, have a duty to defend the victim not this unrepentant, repulsive excuse for of a man. He admitted to unlawfully having sex as part of a plea bargain the judge tried to renege on. Tonie Marshall I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough. Drugging a girl, disregarding her repeated No, her faking an asthma attack to get him to stop is not real rape? The Mexican director received criticism after he chose not to wear a Time's Up badge to the BAFTAs. Jerome Cornuau Read and educate yourself. Sickening. I can only hope they are not aware of the full allegations. Debra Winger described Polanskis arrest in Switzerland in 2009 as a philistine collusion. By his cowardice and lack of morality he has kept the case and the pain of his victim alive all this time. Thats no excuse, and its a decision I regretted almost immediately and have regretted ever since, she says. That does not change that he committed statutory rape against a 13 year old, drugged her, and fled the country. SHAME on you Wes Anderson! The judge certainly didnt give A DAMN about the girl. When Polanski was arrested in Zurich in 2009 in a failed attempt by the US to extradite him, more than 100 celebrities signed a petition demanding his release. Michele Placido Adrien Brody, who won an Oscar for The Pianist, was unable to participate due to schedule. Actually, the film Wanted and Desired has notable inaccuracies and neglects to include the grand jury testimony which is readily available to the public. What he did over 30 years ago was wrong, but the fact that the victim received a civil settlement and doe not want the matter pursued means the case should be dropped. a host of actors have signed petitions on his behalf . Silvio Berlusconi Corruption: Sex, Lies & Earthquake + Tavernier Boos & Leigh Career Highlight. Buck Henry The mob wants revenge. Shame on all of you. Kent Jones Posting their names publicly in support of Polanski speaks loudly regarding their . None of my business. Do a search online and youll find the filmmakers site for the film. At Jack Nicholsons house, she tells him shes thirsty, so he gives her alcohol. There is absolutely no defense to be offered. I sympathize with Ms. Gaileys feelings, however, this man should not be free to victimize other children. A few will only talk off the record. I too have loved many of his films, and consider him a great artist - but that doesnt excuse his crime. His movies went on to win six Oscars. Ccile Telerman Given. The petition was also signed by various other luminaries of the global film industry, including filmmaker Sam Mendes, actor Jeremy Irons, and actress Isabelle Adjani. Pascal Thomas 2. International film events are not extraterritorial in nature - only diplomatic missions are extraterritorial, and even diplomats are triable and punishable for crimes in a foreign country once they are sent back to their countries. James was best known for playing Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather," which won him both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Scott Foundas A petition demanding his release was signed by more than 100 actors and film-makers, including Emma Thompson (who later asked to have her name removed), Yasmina Reza and Tilda Swinton. I hope he finally gets his punishment and for the ones who signed this list: Im avoiding your work from now on!