American actress Sigourney Weaver said in Spain on Friday that #MeToo had made women “feel like they have the right to say no” as Spanish cinema is rocked by allegations of sexual violence against a filmmaker.
#MeToo has created “a big difference” for “women”. […] in the way we feel the right to say no, to say stop,” she explained during a press conference on the eve of the Goya ceremony, the equivalent of the French Caesar ceremony in Spain, which took place on Saturday in Valladolid (northwest ) takes place.
The actor receives an international Goya, an honorary award given by the Spanish Film Academy, for his entire career.
“We knew that the #MeToo movement would not change things overnight,” but “I am pleased that this sector is talking more and more about all these cases of sexual violence,” she added, welcoming the fact that “women denounce this situation, this abuse and make the industry safer for other women.”
Spanish cinema has been rocked since the end of January by the publication of an investigation by the daily newspaper El País in which three women accused filmmaker Carlos Vermut of sexual violence.
Vermut, a figure of independent cinema, won the most prestigious award at the 2014 San Sebastian Festival, an important event for Spanish-language cinema, for his second feature film, Magical Girl (La niña de fuego).
These allegations sparked a wave of outrage in Spain, a country at the forefront of the fight against gender-based violence.
“I am very sorry to hear about this matter and my thoughts are with the women” who have been victims of sexual violence, said Sigourney Weaver when asked about the issue.
In the wake of this affair, which will be the focus of the Goya ceremony on Saturday evening, another Spanish director, Armando Ravelo, was accused by an artist of “inciting” her to have sexual relations when she was only 14 years old.
On the eve of the Goyas, the Ministry of Culture announced on Friday the establishment of a unit specializing in the care of victims of sexist violence in the cultural sector.
Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in 2017, in many countries, figures from the world of cinema have been accused of sexual violence, such as the actor Gérard Depardieu in France or the filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, against whom the actress Judith Godrèche filed a complaint a.