Polanski finally gets his Oscar -- from Harrison Ford

September, 2003
AFP

DEAUVILLE, France - Roman Polanski, a fugitive from justice in the United States, finally received the Best Director Oscar he won in March for "The Pianist" - at the Deauville film festival in northern France.

US star Harrison Ford, who accepted the award on his friend's behalf at the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, presented Polanski with the golden statuette at a laid-back reception in the fashionable Normandy coastal resort.

Polanski is head of the jury at the 29th Deauville festival - the annual showcase for American cinema in France - while Ford opened the event on Friday by introducing his latest movie "Hollywood Homicide", a police action caper.

The director, who turned 70 last month, left his home in the United States in 1977 and is still wanted there on charges of statutory rape, making his appearance at the Oscars ceremony impossible.

"The Pianist", a dark film based on the true story of a Polish Jew who uses his music to survive the Nazis, took home three Oscars this year -- Best Director, Best Actor for Adrien Brody, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Polanski's film also won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival in 2002.

In a statement released after his Oscar win, Polanski said he was "very touched to have received the Best Director Oscar for a film that recounts events that are so close to my personal experiences, events that allowed me to understand that art can transcend pain."

Polanski, born in Paris to parents who soon after returned to their native Poland, was just eight years old when the Nazis took away his parents and he was forced to flee the Jewish ghetto in Krakow.

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