Roman Polanski up for European film award

Roman Polanski is up for a European Film award for his thriller The Ghost, five months after avoiding extradition to the US on decades-old sex charges.The 77-year-old is one of five men shortlisted for the European director award, to be presented in the Estonian capital Tallinn on 4 December.Polanski spent the first half of 2010 under house arrest as Swiss authorities debated whether to extradite him.He is still wanted in the US for having sex with an underage girl in 1977.The Ghost – released outside the UK as The Ghost Writer – has also been nominated for best European film.Scottish star Ewan McGregor is up for best actor for his performance in the movie, which has nominations in four additional categories.Ghost-writing theme.
In the European actress category, Britain’s Lesley Manville is cited for her work in Mike Leigh’s comedy drama Another Year.Last year’s event saw Kate Winslet named best actress for The Reader and veteran film-maker Ken Loach receive a lifetime achievement honour.
Based on the Robert Harris novel, The Ghost tells of a journalist hired to ghost-write the memoirs of a former British prime minister.Polanski was completing work on the film when he was detained in Switzerland in September 2009 on a US arrest warrant.Other films up for the ceremony’s top award include The Secret in Their Eyes, an Argentinian thriller named best foreign language film at the Academy Awards in March.Beirut-born composer Gabriel Yared will be this year’s recipient of the European Film Academy’s European Achievement in World Cinema award – Bbc