Roman Polanski is not at the Venice International Film Festival, but his new film, “An Officer and a Spy” is.
Yet after much hand-wringing over his inclusion among the films in competition for the Golden Lion award, journalists at a news conference Friday stayed focused on the film itself and not the director’s past.
The “Rosemary’s Baby” director fled the U.S. after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl and has been a fugitive for more than 40 years.
Producer Luca Barbareschi said at the outset that the producers and cast present would only answer questions about what they knew about the production and would leave aside any polemic that, he said, is not important.
Barbareschi told reporters that this is a film festival, not a moral trial.