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French cinema's big night overshadowed by Polanski protests
France 24
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(Video by France 24)

Police and protestors clashed briefly outside the French “Oscars” ceremony on Friday evening as the Franco-Polish film director Roman Polanski was awarded the prize for best director.

More than 100 angry protestors had gathered to demonstrate against the honour for the controversial director, who is still wanted in the US after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old but fleeing before being sentenced in 1977 .

Roman Polanski receives a 'Zloty Glan' award before a screening of his lates movie 'An Officer and a Spy' during Cinergia Film Festival in Lodz, Poland on 29 November, 2019. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) © Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto Roman Polanski receives a 'Zloty Glan' award before a screening of his lates movie 'An Officer and a Spy' during Cinergia Film Festival in Lodz, Poland on 29 November, 2019. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Even after Polanski announced he would not be attending the Césars awards ceremony for fear of what he described as a “public lynching”, protesters gathered outside the venue to vent their fury at his film J’Accuse/An Officer and a Spy being nominated for 12 awards.

The awards evening opened with the French actor and comedian Florence Foresti, who was hosting the event, announcing “Predators, producers, gentlemen with an electronic bracelet …”

PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Emmanuelle Bercot leaves the stage with the best director award for 'J'accuse' won by Roman Polanski during the Cesar Film Awards 2020 Ceremony At Salle Pleyel In Paris on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien Hekimian/Getty Images) © 2020 Julien Hekimian PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Emmanuelle Bercot leaves the stage with the best director award for 'J'accuse' won by Roman Polanski during the Cesar Film Awards 2020 Ceremony At Salle Pleyel In Paris on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien Hekimian/Getty Images)

Polanski’s film was given an early César for best costumes, but there was nobody from the production team to collect the prize. It won the second of its three awards for best adaptation.

Earlier in the day, France’s culture minister entered the row saying that to give the controversial director a César would send the wrong signals.

a group of people standing in front of a crowd posing for the camera: Activists gather outside the location of the Césars awards to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski’s film. Photograph: Aurélien Meunier/Getty Images © Provided by The Guardian Activists gather outside the location of the Césars awards to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski’s film. Photograph: Aurélien Meunier/Getty Images

Franck Riester’s comments came hours after Polanski, 87, said he would not attend Friday’s awards ceremony for fear of being subject to a “public lynching” by feminists.

Women’s rights activists are furious the judges gave the director’s latest film numerous nominations.

“It’s for each judge to take responsibility. It would be a bad symbol given the necessary awareness we all need to have in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence,” Riester told France Info radio on Friday.

Gallery - 'Les Miserables' Wins Best Film at Cesar Awards, Polanski Takes Best Director (The Hollywood Reporter)

a close up of a newspaper: Roman Polanski might make little more than a cameo as a character in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but the eternally controversial exiled director will be a vivid presence in Venice with his drama adapted from the Robert Harris novel about a late-19th century French Jewish artillery officer falsely accused of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island based on doctored evidence. Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel and Jean Dujardin head the cast.

Polanski’s film, called An Officer and a Spy in English after the Robert Harris novel about the Dreyfus affair, won two prizes at the Venice film festival, including best director.

“Fantasies of unhealthy minds are now treated as proven facts,” Polanski said in a statement on Thursday. “We know how this evening will play out.”

PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Feminist activists gather next to the Cesar Film Awards Ceremony to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski's film 'An officer and a spy' on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. Roman Polanski announced he will not attend the ceremony for fear of a public lynching by feminist activists. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images) © 2020 Aurelien Meunier PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Feminist activists gather next to the Cesar Film Awards Ceremony to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski's film 'An officer and a spy' on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. Roman Polanski announced he will not attend the ceremony for fear of a public lynching by feminist activists. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

This latest case has relaunched the debate over Polanski’s place in French – and world – cinema, and whether his work can or should be regarded as separate from the man.

Earlier, protestors sprayed anti-Polanski graffiti outside the venue and the headquarters of the French film academy, the Académie des Césars.

PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Feminist activists gather next to the Cesar Film Awards Ceremony to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski's film 'An officer and a spy' on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. Roman Polanski announced he will not attend the ceremony for fear of a public lynching by feminist activists. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images) © 2020 Aurelien Meunier PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 28: Feminist activists gather next to the Cesar Film Awards Ceremony to protest against the nominations of Roman Polanski's film 'An officer and a spy' on February 28, 2020 in Paris, France. Roman Polanski announced he will not attend the ceremony for fear of a public lynching by feminist activists. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

Adèle Haenel, the star of Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), which has also been nominated for a César, warned she would boycott the event if Polanski attended. She has accused another French director, Christophe Ruggia, of sexually harassing her when she was 12.

“Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims,” Haenel told the New York Times, adding that nominating him “means raping women isn’t that bad”.

Women protest near the venue of the Cesar awards ceremony, the French equivalent of the Oscar, Friday,Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. Women's rights activists protested outside the Paris concert hall where France's film academy is presenting its version of the Oscars and director Roman Polanski's latest film is up for the most awards. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh) © ASSOCIATED PRESS Women protest near the venue of the Cesar awards ceremony, the French equivalent of the Oscar, Friday,Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. Women's rights activists protested outside the Paris concert hall where France's film academy is presenting its version of the Oscars and director Roman Polanski's latest film is up for the most awards. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

“There is a #MeToo paradox in France: it is one of the countries where the movement was the most closely followed on social media, but from a political perspective and in cultural spheres, France has completely missed the boat.” She said France had failed to draw the line between “libertine behaviour” and “sexual abuse”.

The renewed controversy came weeks after the academy resigned en masse. Alain Terzian, its president, had defended the decision to honour Polanski’s film, saying it was not the institution’s role to take “a moral stance” when it came to awards. An open letter signed by more than 200 actors, producers and directors had demanded “profound reform” of the academy, saying it was stuck in the past and criticising its lack of transparency.

Women protest near the venue of the Cesar awards ceremony, the French equivalent of the Oscar, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. Women's rights activists are protesting because Roman Polanski's latest film is leading the nominations. Polanski is skipping Friday's Cesar ceremony in Paris because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh) © ASSOCIATED PRESS Women protest near the venue of the Cesar awards ceremony, the French equivalent of the Oscar, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020 in Paris. Women's rights activists are protesting because Roman Polanski's latest film is leading the nominations. Polanski is skipping Friday's Cesar ceremony in Paris because of protests prompted by a new rape accusation against him. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

The French feminist group Osez le Féminisme (Dare to be Feminist) accused the Césars committee of being a “sexist institution that makes women invisible”.

Marlène Schiaparelli, France’s equality minister, suggested French cinema was still behind the times and had “yet to complete its awakening, its revolution”.

It is not the first time anger and protests centred on Polanski have disrupted the Césars. In 2017, Polanski was named to preside over the awards ceremony but stepped down after a wave of outrage.

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