TALLINN: Roman Polanski's political thriller “The Ghost Writer” could steal the show at this year's edition of the European Film Awards, the continent's version of the Oscars.
The movie garnered seven nominations for Saturday's gala ceremony in Tallinn, capital of the Baltic state of Estonia, including best picture and best director, the European Film Academy said.
French-Polish Polanski, 76, won the Silver Bear best director prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in February on the film's world premiere.
The Oscar-winning director of “The Pianist” was unable to collect his Berlin award in person, however.
At the time, he was still under house arrest in Switzerland. He had been detained in September 2009 as he arrived for a film festival in Zurich, on a US extradition request over a 1977 case of sex with a 13-year-old girl in California.
Switzerland rejected the request and released him this July.
Estonian authorities said that Polanski could attend the Tallinn ceremony unhindered, noting that under the Baltic state's law the statute of limitations in the case had expired.
Based on Robert Harris's bestseller “The Ghost”, Polanski's film features a stand-out performance by Pierce Brosnan as a former British prime minister modelled on Tony Blair being probed for war crimes over the torture of terror suspects.
He hires a ghost writer played by Ewan McGregor -- nominated for the best actor award in Tallinn -- to shape up his memoirs but the hired scribe soon stumbles upon a deadly web of transatlantic intrigue.
“The Ghost Writer” faces strong competition from “Lebanon”, a hard-hitting Israeli war drama, with five nominations.
It is based on 48-year-old director Samuel Maoz's painful memories as a tank-gunner during Israel's 1982 offensive in Lebanon.
The movie won the Golden Lion at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Another major contender in Tallinn, with three nominations, is “Bal”(Honey), by 47-year-old Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu.
The movie, the third in a trilogy about a boy named Yusuf, portrays the young hero's search for his missing father, who harvests wild honey in a forest.
The European Film Awards were launched in 1988, and spurred by top European directors including Ingmar Bergman and Wim Wenders -- the latter is president of the European Film Academy.
The winners are chosen by the 2,300-strong academy, whose members include actors, critics, directors and producers.
The annual award ceremony rotates between the academy's home, Berlin, and other European cities.
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