Polanski: Wanted and desired, a documentary by Marina Zenovich finally hits cinemas across Poland today, a year after its release in the US.

The film attempts to answer the question: what happened in 1977 and why did Roman Polanski flee the US?

The Oscar winning director was arrested in Los Angeles in 1977 charged with the statutory rape of a 13-year-old. Eleven months later, having pled guilty to one count of unlawful sex with a minor, he fled to Europe before sentencing.

The film, released in the US last year, examines that year-long period, using archival footage of the media frenzy and of Polanski's life before the charges, clips from his films, and contemporary interviews with many of the principles - attorneys, the victim, and Polanski's friends and associates.

Film critic Maria Oleksiewicz thinks that the documentary is an objective portrait of the times.

“The director does not take a stand. Polanski remains enigmatic, but insights emerge of the machinations of justice; the film explores the tragedies that might have influenced Polanski's behavior, as well as the little-known specifics of the case,” she said.

The director has lived in France the last 30 years; his 2003 Best Director Oscar for The Pianist was awarded to him in absentia.

On September 29 this year Polanski was detained at Zurich airport and awaits extradition to the US. (ab)