INTERVIEW
While the controversy surrounding the release and broadcast on the screens of Roman Polanski's new film, J'accuse , continues, Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, delivered her sentiment Wednesday night on Europe 1, a testimony all the more interesting since the Region participated in the financing of the feature film. "The Region financed this film because Roman Polanski is an excellent filmmaker and the subject is very Ile-de-France: the Dreyfus affair". But the elected then clarified her position. "I was shocked by the testimony of the woman who accused Roman Polanski of rape, although the presumption of innocence must play, I must admit that if it was again, I would not finance this film", she insisted.
I blame the box office
At the beginning of the month, Le Parisien published the testimony of a French actress and photographer, Valentine Monnier, who accuses Roman Polanski of having raped her in 1975.
I accuse , which deals with the Dreyfus affair, a major social and political conflict of the late 19th century in France, is at the head of the French box office after a week of exploitation, with 500,000 spectators (501,228 exactly), according to CBO Box Office figures released Wednesday. This is the "best start of his career," says the organization, according to which the precedent was the ninth door (499,344 entries the week of its release in 1999). However, data are not available for Polanski's films prior to 1995.