Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) is an HBO documentary you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Marina Zenovich. In 1977, director Roman Polanski was charged with the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles. On the eve of sentencing, he left the United States and never returned.

Zenovich isn't interested in mounting a defense. Her focus is the legal machinery itself: how the presiding judge handled a case that had become a national media event, what the lawyers on both sides were doing behind the scenes, and whether the proceedings ever had a realistic chance of concluding properly. The film draws on archival footage and new interviews — with Polanski's attorney Douglas Dalton, with prosecutor Roger Gunson, and with Samantha Geimer, the woman who was at the center of the original case. Among those also speaking: Pedro Almodóvar, Catherine Deneuve, Nicolas Cage, Mia Farrow, and Michael Caine.

Premiered at Sundance 2008 and later picked up an Emmy. Stream Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired online on iFILM.