Marina Zenovich – Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

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By:Nicole Holland

 

In 1968, Roman Polanski served on the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Fast forward 40 years later and Marina Zenovich made her Cannes debut at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival with her highly acclaimed documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.

A 2008 Sundance Film Festival Award winner for Documentary Film Editing, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired was included in the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival and was released internationally by The Weinstein Company. HBO Documentary Films aired the film on June 9th; TH!NKFilm debuted the doc theatrically in the US on July 11th.

IFQ sat down with Zenovich as she discussed the making of her documentary, chance coincidence, Emmanuelle Seigner and “Rosemary’s Lullaby,” and the subject of her documentary—Roman Polanski.
IFQ: The documentary’s content focuses on past issues from 30 years ago. Why did you decide to make this documentary?

Marina Zenovich: There was an article in the LA TIMES five years ago that talked about if Polanski was nominated for an Oscar^® for The Pianist would he be able to come back. I thought that was interesting. He was nominated, and then the girl (Samantha Geimer) and her lawyer (Lawrence Silver) went on Larry King Live. The lawyer said that the day that Roman Polanski fled was a sad day for the American judicial system. It was that comment. I thought that it didn’t make sense. I just wanted to investigate and see what he meant.

IFQ: How did you research and prepare for this documentary?

MZ: The whole thing was a challenge. I just started from scratch. I started calling people— the judge (Judge Laurence J. Rittenband) was dead.

IFQ: Polanski wasn’t involved either. How did you tie everything together?

MZ: It was bit by bit. The judge was dead. I read the judge’s obituary; I found his girlfriend (Marlene Roden) and I interviewed her. Then there was another girlfriend (Madeline Bessmer) and I found her. I cold-called the lawyer. It turned out that I knew someone who knew the DA. I tried contacting Polanski. I sent him a fax at the beginning, but I never heard back. Then a few weeks ago, I ended up hearing that he did respond, but I never received it. I mean, I didn’t need Polanski’s involvement. The story I wanted to tell was really about the case, so I needed the lawyers.

I then tried to get to his lawyer (Douglas Dalton). It turned out that I knew Polanski’s godson. He put me in touch with Polanski’s friends. It just kind of started coming together.

IFQ: What did you find most challenging?

MZ: The editing was the most challenging because at a certain point it was taking Roman Polanski’s biography and the case, and then trying to merge them. The editing was really hard. I wanted Werner Herzog, but he was busy on another job.  I waited and waited, and then I got pregnant in the middle of all of it. I had a new baby and my producer was like, we can’t wait forever.

IFQ: How long did the whole production take from start to finish?

MZ: Five years.

IFQ: Emmanuelle Seigner contributed her song “Rosemary’s Lullaby,” an homage to Polanski, which played during the closing credits. Were you specifically looking to use Mia Farrow’s original lullaby in Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and you stumbled upon the remix by Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle or are you a fan of their music? How did it all come about?

MZ: Basically, we used the original “Rosemary’s Baby” theme at the beginning. When I met Roman at the end of making the film, I tried to get an interview with him and he turned me down. In talking, he told me that his wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) was in a band. When I was in Paris, I went to FNAC and found her album (Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle) and I held the barcode up and listened to track 1, listened to track 2 and then oh my God, I heard—

IFQ: [Refers to track 3] “Rosemary’s Lullaby.” [Smiles.]

MZ: It gives me chills. [Smiles.]

IFQ: Me too. [Laughs.]

MZ: It’s so wonderful and I just thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the end of my movie.’

I was so excited because it just kind of brought it all full circle. We put it in. I played it for my editor. He was so excited. I called her manager. We got the rights to the song.

IFQ: Did you ever speak directly with Emmanuelle?

MZ: I met Emmanuelle by chance at Julian Schnabel’s art opening in Los Angeles. It was Oscar^® weekend and everyone was in town. I had made a short film about Julian, so I went there to see him. I didn’t even think that she would be there. I introduced myself to Brett Ratner because I knew that he’s Polanski’s friend and I wanted to tell him that I made the movie. The party was so packed that I was like this [scrunches body] with Brett Ratner. I didn’t even look next to him and he was like, “I want to introduce you to Emmanuelle.” [Laughs.] It was so surprising.

IFQ: I interviewed her before Cannes. She rocks!

MZ: She’s lovely! She was in town and I told her that I was the girl who’s making the film about Roman, and I ended up screening the film for her.

IFQ: When I spoke with her, she mentioned “Rosemary’s Lullaby” and your Polanski documentary.

MZ: That’s so great! It was just an odd coincidence that I went to the Schnabel thing and she was there. Literally, I was leaving, and then I saw someone who I knew and started walking towards him. Then I saw Brett Ratner and he introduced me. It was just a chance coincidence. It was great to show her the film. I love the song and every time I hear it, it makes me happy.  I love what she says in the lyrics—“I was a stranger/From who knows where/When I hear…” It’s like, it’s Polanski.

IFQ: Your documentary was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and it won the Documentary Film Editing Award. Also your film received a special screening at Cannes. Can you tell me about your experience on the film festival circuit?

MZ: So far, it’s just been Sundance and Cannes. Sundance in itself is a dream come true. I made a film called Independent’s Day, which is about the struggle of independent filmmakers and everyone is trying to get to Sundance. In making that film, I became a filmmaker. So then, actually having a film at Sundance was wonderful. I went into it with no expectations. It was a dream festival for the film and me. It was very well-received and we sold it.

Then we really wanted to come to Cannes because of Roman Polanski and it’s in France. It’s a very important festival. It is my first film at Cannes and I can’t begin to tell you how thrilling it is for me. There are two films that are not premieres, and ours is one of them.

IFQ: There are a lot of filmmakers at Cannes with independent films and documentaries and it’s hard to secure distribution. How did you secure distribution?

MZ: We sold it to HBO and Weinstein at Sundance. Then we sold it to TH!NKFilm.  It’s very hard. I mean, the past couple years it hasn’t been that hard to get theatrical distribution; it’s just hard to sell tickets. I didn’t know whether this film should be seen on the small screen or big screen. When I showed it to Polanski’s agent, it was the first time I saw it on the big screen. I thought: you know what this holds up; this works. I’m thrilled that it’s coming out theatrically and HBO has been wonderful. I got lucky on this one. It doesn’t happen on every one. Every film has a life of its own. It’s just that the stars are aligned on this one.

IFQ: It’s the whole Polanski connection. [Laughs.]

MZ: Exactly. [Laughs.]

Marina Zenovich, Director / Co-Writer / Producer

Marina Zenovich is best known for the documentary Who is Bernard Tapie? (2001), a film that looks at the French former politician/convicted criminal turned actor and her obsession with him.  Other films include: Independent’s Day (1998), a look at the Sundance Film Festival and the world of independent filmmaking, featuring Steven Soderbergh, Neil Labute and Tom Dicillo, among others; and Estonia Dreams of Eurovision! (2002), about the wacky world of Tallin, Estonia as it prepares to host the Eurovision Song Contest. All three films have aired on the Sundance Channel, BBC and around the world.  She works as a director/producer on Gallery HD’s series “Art-in-Progress” where she has profiled Julian Schnabel, Robert Wilson, David Lynch, Takashi Murakami and Vanessa Beecroft, among others.