Polanski Wins Big at Berlin Film Festival

Roman Polanski may still be under house arrest, but that didn't stop him from winning the best director award. While he wasn't even able to attend the festival, due to his legal situation, his work on The Ghost Writer earned him the award, according to ABC News.

Producer Alain Sarde accepted it on the director's behalf. He told the audience that Polanski would not have attended if he had been free "because the last time I traveled to accept an award I landed in jail."

Polanski was arrested in Zurich on Sept. 26 to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. Now Switzerland must decide whether to extradite him to the U.S. to face sentencing for a "sex with a minor" conviction from 32 years ago.

Since his "legal troubles," he has gone on to be nominated for best director at the Academy Awards four times and won for 2002's The Pianist. He also wrote and directed The Ninth Gate, Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby.