Roman Polanski will be able to ring in 2010 in peace at his ski chalet/home-imprisonment chamber. According to Folco Galli, a spokesperson for the Swiss Ministry of Justice, “There will be nothing more this year. At the earliest we’ll make an announcement early next year as to whether the criteria for extradition have been met.†Most recently, Polanski’s lawyer has attempted to get the charges dismissed outright owing to alleged transgressions by Laurence J. Rittenband, the original judge on the case. (Rittenband’s unpredictable actions were what supposedly convinced Polanski to flee in the first place; for a full breakdown of the case history, do yourself a favor and check out this recent (subscription required) New Yorker article.) In other positive news for the director, his latest film, The Ghost Writer — a political thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, which has been picked up for distribution by Summit — will screen in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in February. We’re guessing Polanski himself won’t be able to make it.
Swiss won’t decide on Polanski extradition until 2010 [Reuters]
Scorsese, Polanski thrillers join Berlin lineup [Reuters]