Known for Directing
Roman Polański (born 18 August 1933) is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer and actor. Born in Paris to Polish parents, Polański relocated with his family to Poland in 1937. After surviving the Holocaust, he continued his education in Poland and became a critically acclaimed director of both art house and commercial films. Polański's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), made in Poland, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has since received five more Oscar nominations, and in 2002 received the Academy Award for Best Director for his film, The Pianist. He has also been the recipient of two Baftas, four Césars, a Golden Globe and the Palme d'Or. He left Poland in 1961 to live in France for several years, then moved to the United Kingdom where he collaborated with Gérard Brach on three films, beginning with Repulsion (1965). In 1968 he moved to the United States, immediately cementing his burgeoning directing status with the 1968 groundbreaking Academy Award winning horror film Rosemary's Baby. In 1969, Polański's pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered while staying at the Polańskis' Benedict Canyon home above Los Angeles by members of the Manson Family. Following Tate's death, Polański returned to Europe and spent much of his time in Paris and Gstaad, but did not make another film until he filmed Macbeth (1971) in England. The following year he went to Italy to make What? (1973) and subsequently spent the next five years living near Rome. However, he traveled to Hollywood to direct Chinatown (1974) for Paramount Pictures, with Robert Evans serving as producer. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and was a critical and box-office success; the script by Robert Towne won for Best Original Screenplay. Polański's next film, The Tenant (1976), was shot in France, and completed the "Apartment Trilogy", following Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. In 1977, after a photo shoot in Los Angeles, Polański was arrested for the sexual abuse of a 13 year old girl. He was charged with rape but pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. To avoid sentencing, Polański fled to his home in London, and then moved on to France the following day. He has had a U.S. arrest warrant outstanding since then, and an international arrest warrant since 2005. Polański continued to make films such as The Pianist (2002), a World War II-set adaptation of Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman's autobiography of the same name, which echoed some of Polański's earlier life experiences. Like Szpilman, Polański escaped the ghetto and the concentration camps while family members were killed. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Director, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, and seven French César Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. He then released the successful films Oliver Twist (2005), To Each His Own Cinema (2007), and The Ghost Writer (2010), completed while under house arrest. In September 2009, Polański was arrested by Swiss police, at the request of U.S. authorities, when he traveled to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival. In October 2009, the U.S. requested his extradition; however, on July 12, 2010, the Swiss rejected that request and instead declared him a "free man" after releasing him from custody.
Born
August 18, 1933 (age 93)
Birthplace
Paris, France
Filmography
215 films, 26 shows


The Palace
2023 · 1h 40m
country: Belgium
A comedy set on New Year’s Eve 1999 in a luxurious hotel in the Swiss Alps where the lives of various guests and those who work for them intersect.


An Officer and a Spy
2019 · 2h 12m
country: France
In 1894, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Devil’s Island penal colony.


Sharon Tate Home Movies
2019 · 59m
country: United States
A selection of home movies featuring Sharon Tate, lensed by her husband. Released as a second disc with the limited edition of Manson Family Movies.


Based on a True Story
2017 · 1h 37m
country: France
Delphine is the author of an autobiographical novel that has become a bestseller. Exhausted by the promotional tour, just when she feels out of place, paralyzed by the idea of having to start writing again, she meets Elle, a young, attractive, intelligent, intuitive woman who seems to understand her better than anyone.


Henri Langlois vu par...
2014 · 31m
country: France
Thirteen filmmakers share personal reflections on Henri Langlois—the visionary founder of the Cinémathèque Française—recounting his influence on their lives, his role in preserving film history, and his enduring impact on world cinema.


Venus in Fur
2013 · 1h 36m
country: France
An enigmatic actress may have a hidden agenda when she auditions for a part in a misogynistic writer's play.


Carnage
2011 · 1h 20m
country: France
Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.


The Ghost Writer
2010 · 2h 8m
country: France
A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.
Bicycle
Bicycle
2008 · 1m
country: Poland
An unfinished student short by Roman Polanski. Due to a mix-up in the laboratory, only part of the film was processed and returned to Polanski; the student director was devastated as he was very proud of what he'd shot. Based on a real incident in Polanski's life.


To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · 1h 40m
country: France
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.


Le court des grands
2005 · 3h 23m
country: France
A program of debut shorts from some of cinema's greatest diectors. Curated by Emir Kusturica and Stephen Frears, featured auteurs include George Lucas' "1.42.08 to Qualify" (1966), Ridley Scott's "A Boy and a Bicycle" (1965), Robert Zemeckis' "The Lift" (1972), Tony Scott's "One of the Missing" (1969), Kusturica's "Guernica" (1978), Luc Besson's "L'avant dernier" (1981), Lars von Trier's "Nocturne" (1980), Terry Gilliam's "Storytime" (1968), Paul Verhoeven's "A Lizzard Too Much" (1960), Roman Polanski's "Le gros et le maigre" (1960), Jane Campion's "Peel" (1982), and Frears' "The Burning" (1967).


Oliver Twist
2005 · 2h 10m
country: Czech Republic
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.


The Pianist
2002 · 2h 30m
country: France
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.


The Ninth Gate
1999 · 2h 13m
country: Spain
A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.


Death and the Maiden
1994 · 1h 43m
country: France
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.


Bitter Moon
1992 · 2h 19m
country: France
A passenger on a cruise ship develops an irresistible infatuation with an eccentric paraplegic's wife.


The King of Ads
1991 · 1h 31m
country: France
A collection of European T.V. commercials directed by a variety of well-known directors from across Europe and the U.S. Compiled and produced by Jean-Marie Boursicot.


Frantic
1988 · 2h
country: United States
The wife of an American doctor suddenly vanishes in Paris. To find her, he navigates a puzzling web of language, locale, laissez-faire cops, triplicate-form filling bureaucrats and a defiant, mysterious waif who knows more than she tells.


Pirates
1986 · 2h 4m
country: France
The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.


Tess
1979 · 2h 52m
country: France
A strong-willed peasant girl is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumour that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge.


The Tenant
1976 · 2h 6m
country: France
A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.


Chinatown
1974 · 2h 10m
country: United States
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.


What?
1972 · 1h 54m
country: France
A young American woman traveling through Italy finds herself in a strange Mediterranean villa where nothing seems quite right.


Macbeth
1971 · 2h 21m
country: United Kingdom
Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.


Rosemary's Baby
1968 · 2h 18m
country: United States
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.


The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 · 1h 48m
country: United Kingdom
A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.


Cul-de-sac
1966 · 1h 52m
country: United Kingdom
On the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.


Repulsion
1965 · 1h 45m
country: United Kingdom
Beautiful young manicurist Carole suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen, leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend, Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.


The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers
1964 · 1h 48m
country: France
Five swindle stories, taking place in five international cities: Tokyo, Japan ("Fumiko's Five Benefactors" by Hiromichi Horikawa); Amsterdam, The Netherlands ("A River of Diamonds" by Roman Polanski); Naples, Italy ("The Road Map" by Ugo Gregoretti); Paris, France ("The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower" by Claude Chabrol); and Marrakesh, Morocco ("The Confidence Man" by Jean-Luc Godard). Godard's segment was not included in the original French cinema release, and Polanski's segment was not included on the 2016 home disc release.


The River of Diamonds
1964 · 36m
country: France
A young woman is seduced by a wealthy diplomat, who leaves her his business card and arranges to meet her. She goes to a jeweler and, using the card, asks to finalize a jewelry sale at her supposed husband's home. The jeweler arrives while the diplomat is taking a bath and is greeted by the young woman, who offers him tea.


Mammals
1962 · 10m
country: Poland
"Waiting for Godot" on ice and snow, without words. Against a barren winter landscape, a figure approaches: it's a man, pulling a small sleigh on which another man sits, plucking a dead bird. They stop to trade places; the one now on the sleigh takes out his knitting. Accidents, misunderstandings, disagreements, and an outright fight await our absurd protagonists as their trip to nowhere continues, first with one pulling, then the other. What if they were to lose the sleigh? What rules of civilization and partnership would guide them then?


Knife in the Water
1962 · 1h 34m
country: Poland
On their way to an afternoon on the lake, husband and wife Andrzej and Krystyna nearly run over a young hitchhiker. Inviting the young man onto the boat with them, Andrzej begins to subtly torment him; the hitchhiker responds by making overtures toward Krystyna. When the hitchhiker is accidentally knocked overboard, the husband's panic results in unexpected consequences.


The Fat and the Lean
1961 · 15m
country: France
A small and thin barefoot slave (played by Polanski) plays a flute and beats a drum to entertain his large master who rocks in a rocking chair in front of his mansion. The slave jumps and leaps like a madman, wipes his master's brow, feeds him, washes his feet, shades him from the sun with an umbrella and holds a urinal for him.


When Angels Fall
1959 · 21m
country: Poland
The twenty-one-minute-film is set in a men's public rest room and recounts the day to day existence of an elderly woman who serves as an attendant in the lavatory. As an endless procession of men pass before her, relieving themselves in the urinals, the attendant escapes her reality by daydreaming about the past and the soldier she once loved and the child she bore him.


The Lamp
1959 · 8m
country: Poland
In waning winter light, a doll maker works in his shop, a kerosene lamp beside him, a jumble of dolls and doll parts, whole and broken, surrounding him. There are noises, too: a cuckoo clock chirps the workday's end. The artisan completes a repair and leaves, shuttering the shop from outside. Back inside, whispering begins. What else is in store for the shop's seemingly lifeless denizens?


Two Men and a Wardrobe
1958 · 15m
country: Poland
The film features two men who emerge from the sea carrying a large wardrobe, which they proceed to carry into a town.


A Toothful Smile
1957 · 2m
country: Poland
A man walks down the exterior staircase of building of flats; he's dressed to go out, taking care to wrap a scarf around his neck. He pauses as he passes a small window that's about eye high. He ventures to look in, and there a young woman stands at a washbasin, drying her hair,


Murder
1957 · 2m
country: Poland
The camera shows us a door handle and the door's striker plate; from this angle, they form a cross. The door opens and in steps someone in a dark trench coat. He approaches a bed in the room, where a shirtless man sleeps.


Break Up the Dance
1957 · 8m
country: Poland
Youths get ready for a party, decorating the dance floor, cleaning out the fountain of a pond. That evening, the party starts and guests arrive: everyone has a ticket, and a guy at the gate, wearing a formal shirt, tails, and shorts, makes sure only those with tickets gain entrance.