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Although its inclusion in Venice’s competition has stirred some controversy, Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” has lured buyers in several key markets ahead of its world premiere on Friday.

Since unveiling the film’s first footage at Cannes, Paris-based sales company Playtime has pre-sold it to Japan (Longride); Spain (Caramel Films); Greece (Odeon); Portugal (Midas Filmes); Israel (United King Films); Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland (Future Film); Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Cis (Top Film); Poland (Gutek Film); and former Yugoslavia (Fivia). Playtime is in negotiations to close several more deals in major markets.

“An Officer and a Spy” is France’s biggest-budgeted film slated for theaters this year. Gaumont will release the film Nov. 13. The €25.5 million ($28 million) historical espionage thriller is based on Robert Harris’ novel and headlined by Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) and Mathieu Amalric (“At Eternity’s Gate”).

The movie tells...

Director portrayed as persecuted victim of ‘neo-feminist McCarthyism’ in interview for latest film An Officer and a Spy

The figure of Roman Polanski hung once again over the Venice film festival on its second day after he released press notes for his new film that sought to discredit several women who claim he sexually abused them as minors, and suggested that he has been persecuted since the late 1960s, when the press insinuated he was a satanist after the murder, by members of the Manson Family, of his second wife, Sharon Tate.

In the press notes for his new film An Officer and a Spy, about the antisemitic Dreyfus affair – which has its premiere on Friday – the 86-year-old Chinatown director is portrayed as a persecuted victim of “neo-feminist McCarthyism” in an interview with the French polemicist Pascal Bruckner.

The 76th Venice Film Festival is only one day old but has already been dominated by talk of director Roman Polanski, whose new movie An Officer And A Spy debuts in Competition tomorrow. The filmmaker won’t be at the festival or doing general press but he has given a strikingly candid, wide-ranging interview for the film’s press notes.

In the interview, 86 year-old Polanski discusses his motivation for making An Officer And A Spy, his experience in the MeToo and Times Up era and the enduring trauma of his wife Sharon Tate’s murder.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Polanski remains a controversial figure due to his arrest in 1977 for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. He pled guilty to the lesser offence of unlawful sex with a minor and served 42 days behind bars but has been a fugitive of the U.S. ever since, having fled the country after learning that...

During a pause in the missile attacks, the cameras roll and a young Palestinian girl playing the role of Anne Frank speaks her lines against the backdrop of a bombed-out school in Gaza. “Why is a nation spending more money on war than on medicine, education and art?” she asks, her words both weary and wise. It is a question for the ages, one that could be asked of any war. But in this case, it’s being asked in the middle of a war zone during production of What Does Anne Frank Mean Today?

Two days later, cameras are rolling again. There have been more missiles, more destruction, and more death. The young actress takes her mark in front of a new set of ruins and begins to talk about Anne’s hopes and dreams for a future that will never be. As she speaks her lines, two men...

Roman Polanski's jailing has certainly inspired people to write some of the most insane ramblings I have read in some time. Take for example, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere writing the following in his comment section on this post: I didn't say that Polanski deserves a pass from his self-created troubles because he's a great artist, or "Art God." I said and believe that Art Gods have earned the right to be shown an extra measure of consideration when such matters arise. That doesn't mean "give them a pass" -- it means show a little compassion. Basically -- if I'm understanding this correctly -- having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old is not as bad if you directed Chinatown than, say, if you were just an average person. Hopefully you can figure out for yourself how ridiculous I believe such a statement to be, and this goes for everyone, not just Polanski.