His words reverberated in a crowded hall, just as they have reverberated throughout French society in recent days. The actress Judith Godrèche, who at the beginning of February accused two filmmakers of raping her as a teenager, criticized this Friday “the impunity” that reigns in the seventh film. His presence at the 49th edition of the César Awards, the French film ceremony where Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall triumphed, was eagerly awaited. In a short but applauded speech, he called on the French audiovisual world to accept responsibility for the abuses committed against underage artists.
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“Is it possible for us to face the truth? That we assume our responsibility? To be the actors of a world that is being questioned? I've talked and talked for a long time, but I don't listen to them, or I barely listen to them. Where are they? What are they saying?” the 51-year-old actress asked in a pageant held in the shadow of new allegations of sexual violence. “Why should we accept that this art that unites us is being used as an illegal trade in girls?” he asked.
Six awards were handed out at the ceremony for the courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” including Sandra Hülser for best film and best actress. Its director Justine Triet was also the second woman to win the best director award in the history of French cinema, after Tonie Marshall in 2000. In May, she became the third woman in history to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes festival. The only Spanish woman nominated for the César, filmmaker Gala Hernández López with The Mechanics of Fluids, won the trophy for best short documentary. Thomas Cailley's Animal Kingdom won five statuettes. Director Christopher Nolan and actress Agnès Jaoui received the honorary award.
Actress Sandra Hülser (from behind, left) receives congratulations from Justine Triet on winning the award for best actress. BENOIT TESSIER (Portal)
“I would like to dedicate this César to all women,” said Triet after the award ceremony. And he added: “To those who feel trapped in their choices, in their loneliness, to those who exist too much and those who do not exist enough, to those who succeed and those who fail, and finally to those who have them.” were wounded and freed themselves by talking. And to those who can't.
His statements were an allusion to those of Godrèche, who in recent weeks has become the protagonist of a kind of second MeToo in the country. The interpreter's statement once again shocked a sector already shaken by the allegations of rape and sexual assault against Gérard Depardieu. The actor was also publicly accused of sexual violence by fifteen women and faced severe criticism for his misogynistic comments.
Final photo with all winners on the stage of the Olympia Theater. BENOIT TESSIER (Portal)
Godrèche's testimony provided evidence of other types of abuses. Those who commit or have committed crimes against underage girls under the pretext of facilitating their path into the world of cinema. It happened to her when she met the director Benoët Jacquot. She was barely 14 years old when she began a relationship with the then 39-year-old filmmaker. “I just noticed it. This thing, my consent, I never gave. No, never,” he explained in a letter to his daughter. At the beginning of February, shortly before the premiere of a television series in which she recounted this period of her life, she accused him of raping a minor. He also did it on the same day against another director of the same generation, Jacques Doillon.
With her words, the actress opened the door to accusations from other artists against both directors who reject the facts. One of them, Isild Le Besco, denounced the “destructive dominance” that Jacquot exercised over her when she was 16 years old. In her speech at the César gala, Godrèche, who was one of the first to denounce a rape attempt by producer Weinstein in 2017, claimed in a specially prepared email to have received more than 2,000 testimonies in four days. He did not provide any information about the content of the emails.
“Collective blindness”.
French cinema has experienced “a collective blindness” that has “lasted for years,” denounced Culture Minister Rachida Dati in an interview published this Friday, seven years after the start of the MeToo movement in the United States. Godrèche “says very simple things. He tells us: “She was a girl.” “Everyone saw it and no one said anything,” he added. The relationship was no secret and even enjoyed tolerance in a society that today looks at itself in the mirror.
Dozens of people demonstrated in front of the gala, which took place at the Olympic Hall in Paris at the invitation of trade unions and feminist associations. Among them was actress Anna Mouglalis, who accused Doillon and director Philippe Garrel of sexual assault before declaring she was “very glad this movement exists.”
Christopher Nolan with the honorary award. CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON (EFE)
France has a complex relationship with MeToo. In 2018, a forum signed by 100 French artists and intellectuals, including actress Catherine Deneuve, claimed that the “freedom to interfere” was essential to sexual freedom and warned of the impact that the new climate was having on cultural production could have. Since then, things have gone in a different direction, like in 2020, when actress Adèle Haenel shook the industry by shouting “La honte!, la honte!” (Shame!) and leaving the room as it started announced that the César for Best Director went to director Roman Polanski.
Since then, the increase in complaints and testimonies about sexual violence has forced the world of cinema into an exercise in introspection. What has changed? A year ago, the film academy banned participation in the gala by professionals accused or convicted of violent crimes. The organization also initiated a renewal process after criticism of a lack of parity and diversity.
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