French filmmaker André Téchiné, best known for his films My Favorite Season and Les Roseaux Sauvages, is the subject of a sexual harassment complaint, a new example of what appears to be silence after many years of freedom of expression in the cinema sector in France.
After several complaints by actresses against renowned directors or actors, in particular Gérard Depardieu, this time it is an actor, Francis Renaud, who accuses André Téchiné of harassment.
Francis Renaud, now 56, filed a complaint of sexual harassment against Mr. Téchiné [le directeur de casting Gérard] Moulevrier for sexual assault, Évreux prosecutor Rémi Coutin told AFP.
I have asked the police to open an investigation without maintaining a precise sentence classification for the time being, as Mr Renaud's hearing requires me to exercise the greatest caution for the time being.
During a hearing, Mr. Renaud filed a complaint against Mr. Téchiné for stroking his hand and telling him he was harassing him, according to Mr. Coutin.
Possible recipe
If that were all there was, [ce n’est] It was not likely that this was sexual harassment, emphasized the judge, who called on the filmmaker not to be shamed based on these facts alone […] not sufficiently precise.
At first glance, the facts denounced by Francis Renaud are all dictated by seniority, he added.
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Actor François Renaud at the opening of the Valenciennes Festival 2016. (Archive photo)
Photo: Getty Images / Francois Lo Presti / AFP
Regarding the complaint of sexual assault against Mr. Moulevrier, the actor speaks of facts that could perhaps be qualified as sexual assault: He speaks of caresses, particularly on his penis, through clothing, which was 20 or 25 years ago, he said. Here, too, the question of a possible prescription would arise.
“It seems to me difficult at this stage to predict with any certainty the criminal qualifications for the investigation,” Mr Coutin concluded.
The 80-year-old director of around thirty films, André Téchiné, was recognized as a giant of French cinema by the Cannes Festival in 2017.
Rain of accusations
Recently in France there has been a wave of sexual harassment allegations against now elderly directors and actors, notably by actress Judith Godrèche, who filed a complaint against filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for actions that occurred in his teenage years.
On February 22, the statement by French actor Aurélien Wiik under the hashtag #Metoogarçons sparked several hundred statements on social networks from male victims of sexual violence whose stories had been largely unheard for a long time.
The 43-year-old actor says he was abused by his agent between the ages of 11 and 15 and filed a complaint when he was 16 because his attacker did it to others.
His message triggered several hundred statements on the social network X, which quickly went beyond the boundaries of the seventh art.