PARIS.- He cine French held its annual awards gala marked by the claims of the actress Judith Godrèche, who called for an end to the “trafficking of girls” in the seventh art, after her traumatic experience with directors in her adolescence.
And at the same time, the 49th César gala was a resounding tribute to women’s cinema, with director Justine Triet, the author of “Anatomy of a Fall”, the great winner with six awards.
“Why accept that this art that unites us is used as an illicit trafficking of girls?” questioned Godrèche, now 51 years old.
After decades of reflection, Godrèche has brought to justice two directors much older than her, Benoît Jacquot (now 77 years old) and Jacques Doillon (79 years old).
She had a romantic relationship with Jacquot that began when she was 15 years old and started in the movies, supposedly without parental objection, and that lasted for six years.
During that time he also filmed under the orders of Doillon, whom he accuses of abusive behavior.
Both deny the facts and Jacquot assures that he was the one who was under the “power” of an ambitious actress.
This new wave of accusations is led by Godrèche, accompanied in the background by Isild Le Besco (41) and Anna Mouglalis.
A public relationship
Godrèche began her relationship with Jacquot after filming “Les mendiants” under his direction in 1986. The young woman moved in with him when she was barely 15 years old.
That relationship was experienced before the eyes of public opinion and in particular of French cinema and television sets, where both of them lavished themselves.
The actress was received this Friday at the Olympia hall in Paris, where the gala was held, with a standing ovation from the public, the elite of French cinema, but her words sounded like a collective accusation.
“For a while now, I’ve been talking and talking, but I’m not listening to them. Or barely. Where are they? What are they saying?” Godrèche asked the room.
“I know it’s scary: losing subsidies, losing papers, losing your job. I’m scared too,” he confessed.
“We are at the dawn of a new day. We can decide that men accused of rape will no longer be the ones making decisions in the cinema,” he cried.
The Le Besco case
Isild Le Besco also had a short relationship when she was 16 years old with Benoît Jacquot, under whom she filmed “Sade” in 2000. When she was 17 years old, she supposedly rejected the advances of Jacques Doillon, to which he supposedly responded by denying her a paper.
Doillon denies this and claims that she was not honest and that was why she did not get the role.
Now Isild Le Besco is “considering” suing both directors, as Judith Godrèche already did.
“A collective blindness”
Godrèche plans to appear before the French Senate to testify.
French cinema has experienced “a collective blindness” that “has lasted for years,” declared the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, in an interview before the ceremony.
Jacques Doillon has a new film ready, “CE2”, about bullying in primary school, but one of its protagonists, Nora Hamzawi, publicly asked that it not be released.
Dozens of people demonstrated in front of the Olympia hall before the gala, called by unions and feminist associations.
All these controversies overshadow what many observers agree is a good moment for French cinema.
“I would like to dedicate this award to all women, to those who have been hurt and who free themselves by speaking, and to those who do not achieve it,” declared the winner of the night, Triet, 45 years old.
In addition to winning the César for best film, Triet won the award for best director, the second time in the history of French cinema that it has been awarded to a woman.
“Anatomy of a Fall”, the story of a harrowing trial, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and is also nominated for an Oscar in no less than five categories.
The César award for best actor was awarded to Arieh Worthalter for “The Goldman Trial”, while the award for best actress went to Germany’s Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall”.
Source: AFP
