Berlinale

Polanski Wins Best Director at Film Festival

Silver Bear for The Ghost Writer.

Despite his personal woes, Roman Polanski is having a professional comeback. The controversial Polanski was named best director for his political thriller The Ghost Writer at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday. Polanski is currently under house arrest in Switzerland for charges related to having sex with a minor. Producers Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, who won the Golden Bear for best picture, accepted the award on Polanski's behalf. "As I told Roman how sorry I was that he could not be here, he said he probably would not have come anyway. 'The last time I went to a film festival I ended up in jail,' he told me," Sarde said.