NEW YORK (CNN)  -- When filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested Saturday in Switzerland, he was on his way to accept an award for Lifetime Achievement at the Zurich Film Festival.





Peers of Roman Polanski have praised him for his talent and lamented his arrest.





Polanski's friend, Swiss filmmaker Otto Weisser, was among the first to publicly run to his defense.





"This is for me a shock. I am ashamed to be Swiss, that the Swiss is doing such a thing to brilliant fantastic genius, that millions and millions of people love his work," Weisser said upon learning the director had been detained by Swiss authorities. "He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago. What a shame for Switzerland."





By Tuesday, more than 130 heavyweights in the movie industry had taken up Polanski's cause.





An online petition has been signed by directors such as Marin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Pedro Almodovar, as well as actors.





Studio chief Harvey Weinstein told CNN in a statement: "We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation."  Watch a report on celebrities' feelings about Polanski's arrest »





Roman Polanski first stormed Hollywood with his psychological thriller, "Rosemary's Baby," in 1968. He remains one of the most celebrated directors in Hollywood and the world, despite not having set foot in the United States in more than three decades.





"We stand by and await his release and his next masterwork," said Zurich Film Festival Jury President Debra Winger on Monday on behalf of Polanski.





Adrien Brody, who Polanski directed in 2002's "The Pianist," had glowing words when it came to his experience working with Polanski.





"If you have the guidance from someone you admire, like Roman Polanski, who not only is a gifted director and actor, but who knows the subject matter and in my opinion the character that I portray, implicitly, then, it's a huge gift," Brody said.





"I learned a great deal about film and the process," the Academy Award winning actor added. "I spent six weeks without another actor on the set, just Roman and I and a crew -- and that's, that's a dream come true for an actor. I cherished those memories."





"He is sweet and very strong and is very, very demanding, in the tradition of an auteur," said Sigourney Weaver about being directed by Polanski in 1994's "Death and the Maiden."





It's a reputation Polanski's earned and maintained, despite his 1977 guilty plea on a statutory rape charge of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.  Watch the mixed reaction in Switzerland to Polanski's arrest »





The celebrated director fled the United States and settled in France to escape jail, but by the standards of those in Hollywood, the case is ancient history.





"We hope today that this latest order will be dropped," Winger said. "It is based on a three decade old case that is all but dead, except for a minor technicality."





Matthew Belloni, who has has been following the Polanski case for The Hollywood Reporter's  legal blog, said the outpouring of support from the film industry is not surprising.





"It is a criminal conviction of a terrible crime, but it is something that the industry is willing to look the other way on," Belloni said. "If Hollywood really gets to look at itself and judge the personal character of a lot of the artists in the community, there would be a lot of empty seats at the Oscars because a lot of people have personal problems. This sort of is at the extreme level of that."





As Polanski's star rose after his Oscar-winning hit, "Rosemary's Baby," the world got to know the director's back story.





He was the son of Polish Jews whose mother died in a concentration camp even as a young Polanski escaped the Nazis.





Polanski grew up to become a famous director and married
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