France turns its back on Polanski. “They didn’t want to invest a single euro.”

• Polanski’s latest film, “The Palace,” which is still in development, has not received any funding from France, says producer Luca Barbarchi.
• Roman Polanski also had to deal with cases of refusal to participate in the project. Actors he once worked with don’t want to be associated with the director anymore – ‘Variety’ reports
• These are signs that the director has not received such a warm reception in France as it once was. So far, Polański has enjoyed a rich and successful career in this country
• The first signs of change came in 2020, when Polański’s “An Officer and a Spy” was protested at a Caesars party.
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Signs emerged that Polański’s position in France was no longer what it used to be, in 2020. Then “The Officer and the Spy” earned three Césars, including the Polański Award for Best Director. The decision infuriated French women’s groups who protested against Polanski over new allegations of harassment against him, and led to the widespread resignation of the organization’s 21-person board of directors overseeing Caesar’s grants. Despite this, “The Officer and the Spy” was a huge hit in France, bringing in more than $11 million. he won.

Now, however, the director’s situation in France appears to have worsened. else, Advertised film by Polanski “The Palace”The black comedy, set in an upscale hotel in the Swiss resort of Gstaad, where filming is currently taking place, did not receive French funding, as Polanski’s producer Luca Barbarchi laments. The budget of “Palace” is 17 million euros – the film was shot for 15 weeks, and there are two more until the end of filming.

Barbarchi, who also produced “An Officer and a Spy,” said it was difficult to fund “The Palace,” an Italian, Swiss and Polish co-production of Eliseo Multimedia, RAI Cinema, Polish Lucky BOB and Swiss CAB. Some investors withdrew after filming began. “Within a year, I was able to organize production without France because France did not want to invest a single euro in Polanski,” Barbarchi admits. “It hurt me a lot,” he adds. Barbarchi – who has personally invested more than €4 million in “The Palais”, which he should take back – is also concerned that Polanski’s latest film will not be shown outside France. He is concerned about the position of English-speaking countries such as the UK, USA and Australia, which have decided not to present an “officer and spy” on their cinema screens.

The film, lead authors Polański and Jerzy Skolimowski, takes place entirely at the Palace Hotel in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve on the eve of the new millennium and lasts less than 24 hours. As in the case of financing, it is also difficult to get a film crew. Several actors refused to participateFearing that working with Polanski would hurt their jobs, though, “no one would say that way,” Barbarchi says. The producer reveals that accepting “some rejections wasn’t easy for Roman”. In the “Palace” she appears, among others, German actor Oliver Masuk, French star Fanny Ardant, Mickey Rourke or Monty Python icon John Cleese.

The most important members of the team working on “The Palace” are Academy Award-winning composer Alexandre Deblatt, as well as Polanski’s permanent cinematographer Bauie Edelman, editor Hervé de Luz and costume designer Carlo Pugioli (known by the production of “Young Pop”). The Paris-based Wild Bunch that sells “The Palace” showed a four-minute publicity show in Cannes. They have already signed contracts with distributors in Germany and Spain. Now they have to sign another one.

The premiere of the movie “The Palace” is scheduled to take place in November.

source: Variety.com

(jbr)