On August 25, the Los Angeles Supreme Court held a hearing in the case of Roman Polanski v. American Film Academy. The director was unable to regain membership in the organization, Variety reported.
The court ruled that the decision to expel the director, which the Academy's board made in 2018, was legitimate.
“Although the board may have considered that the circumstances surrounding the fact that the plaintiff continues to abscond from justice, as well as his allegations of serious violations by the court and prosecution, canceled the need to exclude him from the Academy, the decision of the board was based on evidence, was objective and not has become a whim or an abuse of the right to act at its own discretion, "- quotes the edition from the decision of Judge Mary Strobel.
According to Polanski's lawyer Harland Brown, academy membership means nothing to his client. The reason why the director decided to go to court in April 2019 was violations in the procedure for his exclusion from the organization.
The director claims that the board did not inform him of the intention to withdraw the membership. Accordingly, Polanski did not have the opportunity to defend himself.
“He was expelled from the membership of the academy without warning, without giving him the opportunity to answer. He was not even informed of the reasons for this decision, "Brown noted in 2019.
- Reuters
- © Brendan McDermid
Polanski also emphasized that the actions of the academy are contrary to both its own norms and the letter of the law.
"The fact that the academy excluded the plaintiff from its membership without notifying him or giving him the opportunity to be heard is a violation of its own rules, regulations and rules, as well as the California State Corporate Code," the statement said.
At the same time, the director argued that the decision of the academy "is not supported by conclusions, and the conclusions of the academy are not supported by evidence."
At the meeting on August 25, 2020, Strobel noted that the Academy did not notify Polanski of the exclusion procedure in time, but corrected this omission by giving him the floor.
“In this case, the plaintiff was given the opportunity to present any evidence that he believed would be relevant to the board's consideration of 'whether he should remain a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' given that he has a criminal record and is hiding from justice, ”reads the final court ruling.
Harland Brown said that at the moment Polanski is not going to appeal the decision. The lawyer compared the process to the Dreyfus case, which is dedicated to his client's film "The Officer and the Spy", but stressed that the director never denied his guilt.
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Roman Polanski was dropped from the film academy in May 2018. The Board motivated this decision by a desire to continue to “promote adherence to ethical standards that require its members to uphold its values such as respect for human dignity”.
In 1977, Romanu Polanski pleaded guilty to an illegal sexual relationship with 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Gamer). A year later he emigrated to France, later lived and worked in other European countries. US attempts to extradite the director have been unsuccessful. The case has not yet been closed. Over the years, other women have also brought accusations against the director.
In 2003, the American Film Academy awarded Roman Polanski an Oscar for The Pianist. However, the award was not revoked along with the membership. The expulsion of the director from the Academy is believed to be due to the revitalization of the #MeToo movement.
“This is all a stupid PR stunt to underscore their political correctness,” Harland Brown said in June 2019, in response to an academy claim that Polanski was expelled in a fair and consistent process.