Will Thierry Frémaux in Cannes or Alberto Barbera in Venice dare to drop such an atomic bomb on their festival?
According to
Variety,
the selection committees of the two flagship international festivals have received a copy of Roman Polanski's new film,
The Palace
.
Starring Fanny Ardant, ex-Monty Python John Cleese and America's Mickey Rourke, this black comedy chronicles the transition to the year 2000 of wealthy guests of a five-star hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland.
The screenplay is co-signed by octogenarian Polish playwright Jerzy Skolimowski.
His animal drama
Eo
, about the journeys and sufferings of a donkey, was one of the favorites of the Cannes Film Festival 2022.
Once courted by festivals, Roman Polanski ended up being overtaken by the numerous accusations of sexual assault brought against him.
Former winner of the Palme d'Or, he is implicated in four cases of sexual assault or rape, all of which he disputes.
The filmmaker will also be tried for defamation on March 5, 2024 in Paris for having questioned in
Paris Match
the veracity of the accusations of sexual abuse brought against him by actress Charlotte Lewis.
In 2010, the 55-year-old British actress, who had starred in the film
Pirates
directed by Roman Polanski in 1986, claimed to have been
"sexually abused"
by the filmmaker in his Paris apartment in the early 1980s, when she had 16 years old.
Read alsoRoman Polanski tried in March 2024 for defamation of a woman who accuses him of sexual abuse
In the wake of Metoo, Roman Polanski has become persona non grata.
In 2019, his feature film, inspired by the Dreyfus affair,
J'accuse
was selected and awarded at the Mostra.
His presence in competition had made some jurors uncomfortable, including the president and filmmaker Lucrecia Martel.
In 2020, his coronation of best director at the Césars for this very classic historical drama, with Jean Dujardin and Louis Garrel, had caused the departure of the ceremony of Adèle Haenel.
Release in Italy scheduled for April 6
This exit had left scars.
Roman Polanski, who turns 90 this summer, has been unable to find a French financier for
The Palace
.
No producer, no broadcaster wanted to risk it with the exception of the director's production box, points
out Variety
.
To date, the film has no release date or distributor announced in France.
Roman Polanski edited the feature film with the help of Italian producers Luca Barbareschi and the cinema division of the transalpine public television La Rai.
As well as Polish and Belgian partners.
In Italy,
The Palace
is supposed to arrive in theaters on April 6, which would make it ineligible for the Mostra which requires exclusivity on Italian territory.
But Luca Barbareschi is ready, if necessary, to postpone the date.
Connoisseurs of the Croisette and the Lido are however skeptical about the probability of a selection for the golden lion or the golden palm.
“
Imagine the context: the Oscars are 'So White' again, the
Césars are 'So Male' again,
and now you're going to invite Polanski's film to your festival?
“, taunts
Variety
a regular, who remained anonymous.
“
As a festival director, why should I give the press the chance to slaughter me?
Even the artistic director of Cannes Thierry Frémaux cannot afford it
, ”said another.
The first elements of an answer will arrive in the spring when the master of the Croisette will unveil the program for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
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