Polanski's Pianist Premieres

An emotional Roman Polanski returned to Poland for the premiere of his latest movie, The Pianist, based on the memoirs of a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi occupation.

It's the first movie Polanski has shot in Poland in more than 30 years, and it was awarded the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Starring Adrien Brody, The Pianist tells the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, who survived the Warsaw ghetto in World War II with the help of a German officer.

Polanski was joined at the premiere in Warsaw by Szpilman's widow Halina, along with the couple's two sons, as well as Helmut Hosenfeld, son of the German officer who saved Szpilman and later died in a Soviet camp.

"It's an exceptionally moving moment for me," said Polanski. "The premiere in Poland was my special wish."

Mrs. Szpilman said: "I'm happy that Polanski did the film because he himself lived through the war. It's a good time now to make this movie, because it will reach a new generation that didn't see the war."

Szpilman was a Polish Jews confined by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. He remained there, in hiding, and shortly before the end of the war, was discovered by German officer Wilm Hosenfeld, who helped shelter him and gave him food.

Polanski, 69, said that when he read Szpilman's memoirs, "after several pages, I knew that it was going to be the next movie and I knew that I would be doing it in Warsaw."

He added, "It was a book that required honesty and modesty - there was no room for the actors to show off. So we told the story in the way that I remember things were at the time. No more, no less."