Mass resignation at France's film academy after Polanksi row

The entire board of the Cesar Academy, which awards France's 
equivalent of the Oscars, resigned Thursday just two weeks 
before its gala ceremony after more than 200 actors, producers, 
directors and movie personalities demanded "profound reform".

The academy had come under fire after director Roman Polanski's 
new film An Officer and a Spy topped the list of nominations for 
this year's Cesar awards, which will be handed out on February 
28.

Polanski has been wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 
13-year-old girl since 1978 and is persona non grata in 
Hollywood.

"To honour those men and women who made cinema happen in 2019, 
to find calm and ensure that the festival of film remains just 
that, a festival, the board... has unanimously decided to 
resign," the academy said in a statement.

"This collective decision will allow complete renewal of the 
board," it added.

A general meeting will be held after the upcoming awards 
ceremony to elect a new board and management who will work on 
implementing reforms and modernisation, it said.

More than 200 actors, producers, directors and movie 
personalities denounced the "dysfunction" at the academy and 
"opaqueness" in its accounts, in an open letter on Wednesday.

They also complained that the founding statutes of the Cesars 
had not changed in a long time and that the academy's nearly 
5,000 members do not get a vote or a say in its decisions.

The academy's board in response said it would ask the National 
Centre for Cinema, a culture ministry agency, to appoint a 
mediator to oversee "deep reform" of its statutes and governance.

The academy had previously announced measures to boost female 
representation in its membership and representation.

The inclusion of Polanski's film on the Cesars' shortlist was 
condemned by France's equality minister, women's groups and film 
critics, but the Cesar Academy said it could not be expected to 
take "moral positions" when evaluating films.

A number of French feminist groups have urged Cesar voters to 
snub Polanski's film, titled J'accuse in France and called for a 
protest outside the award ceremony, which is to be held in 
Paris' Salle Pleyel auditorium.

"When we mobilise, things happen!", feminist collective Nous 
Toutes (All Of Us) wrote on Twitter.

Another group, Osez Le Feminisme (Dare Feminism), said: "Imagine 
what's next. A new voting panel without male self-confidence, 
opacity and sexism. Will we finally stop applauding rapists and 
paedophiles on the run?"

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/mass-resignation-france-
film-academy-polanksi-row-200214015713421.html