Roman Polanski has been taken into Swiss custody on a 1978 US arrest warrant.
In a statement the Zurich Film Festival said the Oscar-winning director was held on his arrival in Switzerland. A spokesman for the city's police confirmed Polanski had been detained, but gave no further details. The Swiss Justice Ministry was reported as saying he would be extradited to the US.
Polanski fled America more than 30 years ago after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. The 76-year-old has been unable to travel to the US since the warrant was issued. Polanski, who is a French citizen, has been trying to have the case thrown out on grounds of misconduct. The director claims the now-deceased judge who arranged a plea bargain later went back on it. In May, a Californian judge dismissed Polanski's bid because he failed to appear in court.
Victim Samantha Geimer, now 45-years-old, has also called for the case to be dismissed and the saga put to an end. She has already sued Polanski, reaching an undisclosed settlement.
The director had been due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival, organisers said. Polanski early films include Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. More recently, he was awarded the 2002 best director Oscar for The Pianist and released a remake of the Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist in 2005.
In 1969 Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered along with four other people by followers of Charles Manson.
Cult member Susan Atkins, convicted in 1971 for her part in the killings, died in prison last weekhttp://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090927/twl-director-polanski-arrested-on-1978-w-3fd0ae9.html