Roman Polanski expresses gratitude to Hollywood

Roman Polanski has expressed his gratitude to Hollywood, despite being exiled from America.

The filmmaker was honoured at the 75th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, winning the Best Director trophy for his harrowing semi-autobiographical Holocaust drama, The Pianist. But he wasn’t on hand to collect his first statuette, since he’s a fugitive from the United States for having sex with a 13-year-old girl more than 25 years ago.

On Monday, the 69-year-old Polanski, who currently lives in exile in France, released his belated thank-you speech.

“I am deeply moved to be rewarded for the work which relates to the events so close to my own life, the events that led me to comprehend that art can transform pain. I believe this still holds true today,”

Polanski said in a statement released through his Los Angeles-based publicist. “My most heartfelt thanks to the members of the Academy for this wonderful award.”

Polanski didn’t dare set foot in town for fear of being arrested by California authorities. Instead, presenter Harrison Ford, who starred in Polanski’s 1987 film Frantic, accepted the award on the director’s behalf.

Polanski’s win represented possibly the biggest jaw-dropping moment of the ceremony, as he beat both the sentimental favourite, Gangs of New York helmer Martin Scorsese, and the force behind the night’s top award-winner Chicago’s Rob Marshall.

Between the Oscar and the resulting standing ovation, it seems Hollywood is willing to forgive the director, even if authorities have refused. Indeed, The Pianist, which won last year’s Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or, was second to Chicago with three awards, including another upset, Adrien Brody for Best Actor.

Polanski has been exiled from Hollywood ever since 1978, when at the age of 42, he was arrested on charges that he drugged and raped a 13-year-old.

He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and as part of the plea deal approved by prosecutors and the girls’ family, would have spent just 90 days behind bars. But the presiding judge vowed to sentence him up to 50 years in prison, and Polanski fled to France.