Sundance Film Festival

Press Release

HBO Documentary Films has acquired all US domestic rights for ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, a documentary about the legendary director whose reputation became forever tarnished after his public conviction of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. The film is directed, written and produced by Marina Zenovich, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and Randy Wooten and produced by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Lila Yacoub. ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED is in Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and is already a critics’ favorite.

30 years after Polanski’s conviction, his case is still a live issue. ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED reopens the complex and controversial case, challenging many of the myths and presumptions. Drawing on insightful interviews with key players and uncovering telling footage from the past, the film explores how the case affected both victim and perpetrator, while addressing larger questions about the media, our cultural obsession with celebrity and the US legal system. Among the subjects interviewed are Polanski’s attorney Douglas Dalton, who breaks his silence after 30 years to reveal extraordinary information.

Cinetic Media and Submarine Entertainment represented the filmmakers in their negotiations with HBO.

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED is directed by Marina Zenovich and written by Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan and Marina Zenovich. Produced by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Lila Yacoub and Marina Zenovich. Steven Soderbergh and Randy Wooten are executive producers.