Documentary maker still following Polanski saga

The documentary filmmaker who created the 2008 film Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, is determined to seePolanski's legal troubles through to the end.

Marina Zenovich was in a California Appeal Court on Thursday to hear Polanski's lawyers argue for dismissal of charges of unlawful sexual conduct against him.

Polanski, 76, is under house arrest in Switzerland, awaiting extradition to the U.S. on a 1978 conviction for unlawful sexual conduct involving a 13-year-old girl. He fled the U.S. on the eve of his sentencing and has been living in France.

Zenovich is planning a follow-up documentary to Wanted and Desired that follows the Polanski case until it gets resolved in a U.S. court.

In a California court Thursday, Polanski's attorney Chad Hummel told the three justices they should watch Zenovich's film, which argues there was misconduct in handling the original case.

The Emmy-winning documentary detailed alleged backroom dealings between the judge and a prosecutor that could have resulted in a longer sentence for Polanski than agreed in his plea bargain.

The film's findings were cited by Hummel as grounds for dismissing the case against Polanski, director of Chinatown and The Pianist.

"It's surreal," Zenovich said after the hearing. "It's bizarre to think my film had something to do with it."

The attorney for Samantha Geimer, Polanski's victim who has identified herself publicly, was also in the court, arguing for an end to the case. Geimer has repeatedly asked for the case to be dropped.

Hummel argued the case can be dismissed without Polanski returning to the U.S.

Judges did not issue a decisionafter Thursday's hearing.

Zenovich, who is the daughter of a judge, thinks a hearing should be held into misconduct in the Polanski case. A prosecuting attorney who told the story of the backroom dealings on Wanted and Desired has since backed away from what he said.

"In my opinion, it seems that everyone involved in the case just wants it to be over," Zenovich said.