THINKFilm has acquired from HBO, the US theatrical and home video rights to ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, Marina Zenovich's acclaimed, prize-winning documentary about the public scandal and private tragedy that drove the legendary director from the United States more than 30 years ago. The film, which had its world premiere at Sundance 2008, will make its international debut in the official selection at the forthcoming Cannes Film Festival. HBO will air ROMAN POLANSKI on June 9th, with THINKFilm's theatrical engagements beginning with a New York opening on July 11th. The deal, which was jointly announced by THINKFilm President Mark Urman and Sheila Nevins, president, HBO Documentary Films, is the latest and most innovative collaboration between the two companies, whose long series of partnerships has yielded two Oscar wins, most recently with this year's "Taxi to the Dark Side."

Reopening a case that has inspired curiosity, controversy, and confusion for over three decades, Zenovich's film is an extensive exploration of the circumstances that led up to - and the circus that followed - Polanski's conviction for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Zenovich had unprecedented access to several of the key players in the case, including the lawyers representing the case, the media covering it, and the unusually clear-eyed and candid victim. Unearthing a trove of telling footage from the past, and combining it with insightful interviews from today, she brings comprehension and clarity to events long clouded by myth and misconception. A thrilling examination of a trial that became the prototype for innumerable Hollywood courtroom scandals to follow, ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED becomes a brilliant discourse on the attraction/repulsion that defines celebrity culture in contemporary America.

About the acquisition, Urman says, "Marina's film is one of the best documentaries I've seen in years. It is as compulsively enjoyable as the juiciest tabloid yet it also serves as a stunning indictment of our tabloid-crazed culture. Buoyed by HBO's terrific promotional support, the film should have enormous want-to-see, and exhibitor interest in the film couldn't be higher." Urman, who served as Polanski's publicist for several years in the 90's, was interviewed by Zenovich on background at the earliest stages of production. Of Urman's involvement as the film's distributor she says, "While researching this film I discovered that Mark had worked with Roman Polanski. After talking to him, I realized that he had a real understanding of the story and knows how to get it to the biggest audience. Having THINK and HBO behind the film is every documentary filmmaker's dream."

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, a THINKFilm and HBO Documentary Films release, is directed by Marina Zenovich, written by Zenovich, Joe Bini and P.G. Morgan, produced by Zenovich, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, and Lila Yacoub, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and Randy Wooten, with cinematography by Tanja Koop and editing by Joe Bini.

* About THINKFilm *

THINKFilm is a privately held production and distribution company founded in September 2001 that is now a division of David Bergstein's Capitol Films; Bergstein also serves as the company's Chairman. With seven Academy Award nominations in six years, "Taxi to the Dark Side" recently won Best Documentary Feature. Ryan Gosling's 2006 Oscar nomination for Best Actor in "Half Nelson" and a 2005 Best Documentary Feature Oscar win for "Born Into Brothels" highlight an Oscar list that also includes nominations for "Spellbound," "The Story of the Weeping Camel," "Murderball," and "War/Dance." THINKFilm's current and forthcoming releases include: Helen Hunt's "Then She Found Me" with Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick, which is current in theaters; "The Tracey Fragments" starring recent Oscar-nominee Ellen Page on May 9th, "Noise" starring Tim Robbins on May 9th; Stuart Gordon's "Stuck" starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea on May 30th; and Werner Herzog's documentary "Encounters at the End of the World" on June 11th. For more information, please visit www.thinkfilmcompany.com http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/ .