Roman Polanski’s latest film, “An Officer and a Spy,” won four awards at Venice Film Festival this year and received a theatrical release in France and several other countries — in spite of the director’s history of sexual abuse and the steps France has recently taken to combat sexual misconduct in show biz. But the feminist collective JaccusePolanski is fighting back: the org has penned an open letter to the European Film Academy (EFA) urging them not to recognize “An Officer and a Spy” when the 32nd European Film Award nominations are announced on Saturday.

The letter, which has been signed by many activists, industry professionals, journalists, and organizations — including Women and Hollywood Founder and Publisher Melissa Silverstein — reminds the Academy of the many allegations leveled against Polanski over the years, his guilty plea of statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, and Valentine Monnier’s recent claim that the filmmaker raped her.

“The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have upended the status quo on sexual violence. It is well past time that Europe stop allowing sexual offenders like Polanski to act with impunity,” the letter reads. Putting rapists on notice will send a clear message to victims of sexual violence and child sexual abuse: ‘We believe you, we will break the silence, and we will bring about structural change.’”

JaccusePolanski also calls on the EFA to recognize its own status and power, and therefore its responsibility to set an example in the film industry. If it honors Polanski, it condones sexual assault. But if it condemns him, it is helping to protect survivors and prevent future sexual violence in the biz. “Institutions like yours have tremendous power to pave this road to change. Your voice matters, and you have access to networks and sponsors that provide visibility, prestige, and clout to those who are honored by your nominations and awards,” the collective writes. “You therefore also have the responsibility to ask yourself: who is deserving of the European Film Academy’s praise? On which side of history do you want to stand?”

Read JaccusePolanski’s full letter below or on Medium. Follow the collective on Twitter @JaccuseP.

Dear European Film Academy Director Marion Döring; members of the EFA jury Nadia Ben Rachid, Vanja Černjul, Annette Focks, Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, Gerda Koekoek, Artur Pinheiro, Gisle Tveito, and István Vajda; and fellow members of the European Film Academy,

We are a collective of activists, artists, and journalists who have joined forces to fight the distribution and promotion of Roman Polanski’s film “An Officer and a Spy.” We already tried to get your attention by launching an online campaign, but let us clearly reiterate our request here: we want you to disqualify this movie from receiving any nominations for the 32nd European Film Awards on December 7 in Berlin.

Two weeks ago, photographer Valentine Monnier accused Roman Polanski of raping her, joining 11 other women who have said that Polanski sexually assaulted them. Ten of them were under 18 at the time of the acts described. The youngest was just 9 years old. When Monnier courageously described the sexual violence inflicted upon her in the French newspaper Le Parisien, she explained that she felt compelled to speak out when the movie was released. She was outraged that Polanski sees his situation — as a “victim” of the US justice system — as being morally equivalent to that of Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely accused of treason and sentenced to life in prison.

Let’s be clear. Polanski is not a pariah. He is a sex offender. In 1977, two years after the encounter with Monnier, Polanski pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in the US to avoid facing more serious charges, including rape by use of drugs, sodomy, and a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under fourteen. He fled to France when he thought he might be sentenced to prison instead of simply receiving probation.

The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have upended the status quo on sexual violence. It is well past time that Europe stop allowing sexual offenders like Polanski to act with impunity. Putting rapists on notice will send a clear message to victims of sexual violence and child sexual abuse: “We believe you, we will break the silence, and we will bring about structural change.”

On November 3, acclaimed actress Adèle Haenel further cracked the door open to #MeToo in France by describing how filmmaker Christophe Ruggia had assaulted her over the course of three years when she was a child. She has since decided to press charges against him for sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The French Society of Film Directors (SRF) has said it will expel Ruggia in light of the accusations. We support this decision, but it is a tiny step on the very long road to ending rape culture.

Institutions like yours have tremendous power to pave this road to change. Your voice matters, and you have access to networks and sponsors that provide visibility, prestige, and clout to those who are honored by your nominations and awards. You therefore also have the responsibility to ask yourself: who is deserving of the European Film Academy’s praise? On which side of history do you want to stand? Recently, the French directors’ guild ARP began the process of expelling Polanski from its ranks, showing that bricks are being laid. The movie industry’s acceptance of Polanski must end. Its complicit willingness to “separate the art from the artist” must end.

The #BoycottPolanski movement is part of this groundwork as well. It states that, in 2019, the victims of sexual assault, the victims of sexual child abuse, moviegoers, and the film industry deserve better. Thousands of tweets have been written and shared to support the women who have accused Polanski of rape. Thousands of people have gathered in cities across France — in Paris, Bordeaux, Caen, Montpellier, Rennes, Saint-Nazaire — to protest against the movie. On November 26, a theater in Poitiers announced it would no longer show the film. The movie has failed to find a distributor in the US. Polanski cancelled an appearance at his alma mater, the Łódź Film School in Poland, following protests by students, employees, and former graduates.

We ask that you also step forward and take a stand against sexual violence as movie industry professionals and European citizens.

We ask you to shine a light on rape culture in Europe and to shame, rather than laud, its perpetrators in the film industry.

We finish by quoting Valentine’s Monnier: “I denounce this crime knowing that there can’t be any punishment, in an attempt to end exceptions, impunity. Public figures are being considered as role models. By idolizing the guilty ones, we prevent people from becoming aware of the serious consequences of their acts.”

Signed by:

Professionals in the film industry and performing arts

Rosanna Arquette, actress; Melissa Silverstein, writer and activist, Stéphane Mitchell, screenwriter and activist; Laura Kaehr, film director and activist; Lauren Bastide, journalist and producer; Andréa Bescond, filmmaker; Silvia Casalino, film director; Maïa Descamps, filmmaker; Rokhaya Diallo, director, author, and journalist; Yohanna Dufourg, producer; Sarah El Attar, film director; Tim Faraus, choreographer; Charlotte Fermand, actress; Lili Forestier, filmmaker; Amandine Gay, film director; Perrine Gerard, playwright; Alice Godard, film editor; Mélissa Laveaux, singer, author, and composer; Annie Melza Tiburce, costume designer; Sylvie Meyer, film director; Éric Metayer, filmmaker; Mhairi Morrison, actress; Océan, film director and actor; Anais Pinay, comedian, writer, and activist; Sophie Tissier, film director and activist; Mary Jane Wells, author and actress; Catherine Zavlav, film director and actress; Salomé Richard, film director and actress; Ilham Maad, producer and director; Merry Royer, producer and director

Noémie Gmür, media consultant and podcast writer; Louise Godbold, executive director of Echo; Marie Lerpscher, founder of Gi Girlz; Estelle Marguerite, representative of Parlons des Femmes Noires, Clémentine Vagne, the activist behind the change.org petition to prevent Roman Polanski from presiding over France’s 42nd César Awards; Soraya Sabrina Abdellaoui, sociologist; Aisha Ali-Khan, Women’s March London/Inspirational Muslim Women; Paloma Amadeï, director and creator of the YouTube channel Cinémaniaque; Julie Beauzac, creator of the podcast “Vénus s’épilait-elle la chatte?”; Adèle Bellanger, journalist; Fatima Benomar, founder of Les effronté-es; Hélène Bernadat, graphic artist; Sonia Bisch, spokesperson for the collective Tou.te.s contre les violences obstétricales et gynécologiques; Maud Blanchard de La Brosse, market manager; Amel Boukhatem, decolonial feminist; Éloïse Bouton, creator of Madame Rap; Anaïs Bourdet, founder of Paye Ta Shnek; Cluny Braun, activist; Pierre Buchwalder, artist; Isabelle Camboukaris, publisher; Erika Campelo, head of communications at a non-profit and activist; Alizée Casagrande, president and co-founder of ViP (association for victims of child sex abuse and incest); Marina Carlos, author; Elena Chamorro, teacher and disability-rights activist; Darice D. Chang, author, activist, journalist, artist, and drag performer; Coline Charpentier, activist; Zisla Chiara, artist; Coline Clavaud-Mégevand, journalist; Emma Clit, feminist artist and blogger; Alice Coffin, activist and journalist; Justine Dauphin, activist; Alice Des, artist; Victoria Domine, teacher; Dr Mounia El Kotni, cultural anthropologist; Douceur Erajh, artist, activist; Hany Es-Salhi, artist; Gwen Fauchois, blogger and lesbian activist; Mounia Feliachi, antiracist and feminist blogger; Catarina Fernandes, performer and singer; Sakina Ghani, advocacy officer for antiracist policies; Renée Greusard, journalist; Thomas Hercouet, radioshow host; Anouck Hilbey, performer, singer, and author; Mie Kohiyama, founder of Moi Aussi Amnésie; Afsana Lachaux, women’s rights activist; Gilles Lazimi, physician and activist; Harmonie Lecerf, legal expert; Jules Loup Bayol, graphic designer; Cathy Lutete, activist; Grace Ly, author; Estelle Marguerite, representative of Parlons des Femmes Noires; Aroun M. Mariadas, performer, author, and artist; Thomas Messias, teacher and journalist; Awen Moriceau, sex worker and author; Mowso, engineer and feminist activist; Diariata N’Diaye, activist, founder of the association Resonantes, and creator of the application App-Elles; Fania Noël, Afrofeminist activist and author; Camille Paix, journalist; Emma Peltier, geographer and vocalist; Eva Perez-Bello, activist and nursing student; Océane Ragoucy, architect; Jean-Victor Rath Vireah, activist; Valérie Rey-Robert, author; Julien Ribeiro, curator; Elisa Rojas, lawyer; Muriel Salmona, psychiatrist, trauma therapist, and head of the association Mémoire Traumatique et Victimologie; Hassina Semah, psychologist and sociologist; Ines Slim, founder of Play Gender Games; Akash T., writer and poet; Tony Tan, artist; Tarani Taye, researcher in film studies and decolonial feminist; Elise Thiébaut, author; Adel Tincelin, author and artist; Anthony Vincent, journalist

Media, collectives, associations, and NGOs

La Rage; Women and Hollywood; Les Guerrières de l’Ouest; Tas pensé à? ; Avec Plaiz; Polysème Mag, media; Ils ne nous feront pas taire; Les Aliennes; À Nous la Nuit !; Autodefense Féministe Paris; Bafe.fr, feminist database; Barbieturix, lesbian and feminist media; Collectif 4ème Vague; Collectif Afro-Fem; Collectif Cyclique; Elles font des films; Collectif Les Bavardes Amiens; Collectif Les Dévalideuses, collective of disability-rights activists; Collectif Féministes contre le cyberharcèlement, a collective of feminists against cyberbullying; Collectif HF Rhône Alpes; Collectif Irrécupérables, LGBTQI+ collective against racist and neoliberal pinkwashing; Collectif Nta Rajel?, collective of North African decolonial feminists; Collectif Queers Racisé·e·s Autonome; Collectif Sexy Soucis; Colleuses d’Amiens, Angers, Bayonne, Bordeaux, Champigny-sur-Marne, Grenoble, Herblay, Liège, Lille, Mantes-la-Jolie, Marseille, Montrouge, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Orléans, Paris, Saint-Étienne, Strasbourg, Thais, Toulon, Toulouse, Tours, Vitry sur Seine; Collectif La Bâtarde; Deuxième Page; Dialna.fr; DiivinesLGBTQI+, Afro-Caribbean, Afrofeminist, Pan-African LGBTQI+ association; Groupe F.(s); Gras Politique, association of queer feminists fighting fatphobia; Lallab, association of antiracist feminists; Le PA.F, collective for feminist parenthood; Le Réseau des Femmes Afrodescendantes; Les Ami.e.s de Gouinement Lundi; Les Critiques Hystériques, podcast with feminist movie critiques; Les Ateliers du Travail; Les 343 racisé.e.s; Les Effronté-e-s, a feminist association; Meufs, Meufs, Meufs; Nous Toutes 34; Nous Toutes 54; Parlons des Femmes Noires; Paye ton tournage; Le Réseau des Femmes Afrodescendantes; ReSisters, a safer community for gender minorities; SEOlesbienne; Queer Racisé.e.s Autonome; Queer Week; Touche Pas à Mon Intermittent.e; Women’s March Paris; Women’s March London; Women’s March Taiwan; Women who do stuff; 21Grammes H