Polanski pulls out of Locarno Film Festival

French-Polish director Roman Polanski, wanted by the United States for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, has said he will not attend the Locarno Film Festival. The 80-year-old director, who has a chalet in the Bernese resort of Gstaad, was set to be recognised with a special award and give a public master class at the annual festival, which runs until August 16. He was also going to present his latest film, Venus in Fur, an adaptation of a 2010 play by David Ives. However, some local politicians were outraged at the thought of Polanski – whose films include Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist and Carnage – being honoured at the festival, with the Ticino section of the Christian Democratic Party calling on delegates of the local parliament to boycott the official opening of the festival. The party said in a statement that Polanski’s artistic output could not be viewed completely separately from his private life. One Ticino Christian Democrat, Firenzo … Show more
Source Culture – SWI swissinfo.ch