French-Polish director Roman Polanski has pulled out of the presidency of France’s César Awards, the country’s equivalent to the Oscars, amid widespread protests, reports Variety.
The protests across France was sparked by a local feminist organization called Osez le Féminisme which claimed that appointing the filmmaker as president was “an insult to rape and sexual assault victims” and called for a boycott of the César. The organisation collected approximately 60,000 signatures to have Polanski pulled out. After days of outcry, Polanski’s lawyer told the Associated Press that his client had renounced to be the president of the César, a honorary role which entailed an opening speech.
Polanski, who previously received seven César prizes, was tapped to preside the upcoming 42nd César ceremony next month by Alain Terzian, who runs the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques.
Terzian, who is also a film producer, called Polanski an “insatiable aesthete (…) who has been reinventing his arts and films through the years.”
Although Polanski has many allies within the French film industry, including his current producer Wassim Beji and distributor Stéphane Celerier, among others, he is also considered a controversial figure in the country. In the US, where he won an Oscar for “The Pianist” in 2003, Polanski is still wanted by authorities for having sex with a minor, in a case dating back to 1977. A bid by the US to have him extradited him was recently rejected by Poland’s supreme court.