Roman Polanski will not attend the Cesar Awards - the French equivalent to the Oscars - as he says he fears a "public lynching" over a new sex assault claim against him, reports Sky News.
Polansky leads the nominations, with his latest film, An Officer And A Spy, up for 12 awards.
However, the success of the movie has led to a backlash due to historic allegations of sexual assault levelled against the 86-year-old director.
Last year, a French actress accused him of raping her in 1975 when she was 18 years old, during a ski holiday in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Polanski has denied the accusation.
The French-Polish director also fled the United States after pleading guilty in 1977 to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles.
Polanski put out a statement to the Associated Press, saying: "Activists are already threatening me with a public lynching".