France’s César Academy board quits en masse amid Polanski row

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AFP

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Polanski topped the nominations for this year’s César awards

The entire board of the César Academy, which distributes France’s equivalent of the Oscars, has resigned following backlash over nominations for a film by Roman Polanski and demands for reform.

Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy swept the nomination list for the César awards, sparking calls for a boycott.

The Polish-French director has been wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl since the 1970s.

Hundreds of actors, producers and directors have also called for change.

In an open letter this week, they denounced “dysfunction” at the César Academy and opacity in its management.

In a statement on Thursday night, the academy said the board had “unanimously decided to resign” to “honour those men and women who made cinema happen in 2019, to find calm and ensure that the festival of film remains just that, a festival”.

“This collective decision will allow complete renewal of the board,” it added.

A general meeting is set to be held after this month’s ceremony to elect a new board, which will look at implementing reforms and modernising the institution.

Culture Minister Franck Riester said the César Academy must operate democratically, in the spirit of “openness, transparency, parity and diversity”.

What’s the background?

The César Academy has faced controversy in recent months.

Many called for a boycott when Polanski’s film An Officer and a Spy, or J’accuse in French, received 12 award nominations. The Polish-French director fled the US after his rape conviction in the 1970s, and has since faced other accusations of sexual assault.

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Media captionSamantha Geimer was raped by Polanski when she was 13

“I am shocked. The 400 cinema professionals who voted for this nomination have applauded Polanski with 12 nominations – 12 is also the number of women today who accuse Roman Polanski of rape. This is not the field of morality, this is the field of justice,” Céline Piques, spokeswoman for French feminist organisation Osez le Féminisme (Dare to be Feminist) told French TV channel LCI at the time.

France’s equality minister and film critics also condemned the decision to nominate Polanski’s film.

But the Césars defended the nominations, arguing that the body “should not take moral positions” in giving awards.

In an open letter this week, hundreds of film professionals, including actors and directors, called for “profound reform” at the academy.

They complained of a lack of democracy in the institution and said the founding statutes of the Césars had not changed “for a very long time”.

In response, the academy’s board said it would ask for a mediator to be appointed by a culture ministry agency to oversee reforms of its statutes and governance.

It is not the first time the Césars have faced controversy. In 2017, Polanski was picked to head the award’s jury, but stepped down after the move sparked outrage.

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