Feminist groups attend a protest against film director Roman Polanski near the venue for the Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris, France, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
PARIS (Reuters) – French Police on Friday pushed back protesters who pulled down a safety barrier outside the Paris theatre hosting the 2020 Cesar Awards, where a movie by director Roman Polanski, who faces rape accusations, is up for a dozen nominations.
The protesters did not make it onto the red carpet.
Nearby, other protesters waved placards reading “Shame on an industry that protects rapists.”
The veteran French-Polish director fled the United States in the late 1970s after admitting raping a 13-year-old girl and faces more recent allegations of sexual assault. He denies the accusations against him.
Polanski’s movie An Officer and a Spy, is up for best film and best director, among other categories, at France’s equivalent of the Oscars. Polanski will not attend the ceremony, saying he fears a “public lynching”.
Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Johnny Cotton; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Christian Lowe