THE PALACE

Once upon a time there was, and there still is today... the Palace Hotel. An extraordinary castle designed in the early 1900s by a mystical architect, settled in the Swiss Alps, in the midst of a snowy valley. The Palace Hotel has a gothic and fairytale-like atmosphere where wealthy, pampered, and guests meet from all over the world. This year, a unique event has brought them all together: the New Year’s Eve party of 2000. In service to their extravagant needs is a horde of waiters, bellboys, chefs, and receptionists.

ROMAN POLANSKI

Roman Polański (1933, Paris) is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer, and actor. He attended the National Film School in Łódź, Poland. Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), was made in Poland and was nominated for a United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has since received five more Oscar nominations, along with two BAFTAs, four Césars, a Golden Globe Award and the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival. In 1968, he cemented his status by directing the horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968). The film Chinatown (1974) was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. He later produced and directed The Pianist (2002) which won Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Director, along with numerous international awards. He was awarded Best Director for The Ghost Writer (2010) at the 23rd European Film Awards.