He carried this big budget film on his shoulders, but filmmaker David Moreau had to leave the set of "King" in the middle of filming.
Extremely rare in the world of the 7th art.
Director of "20 years apart", with Virginie Efira and Pierre Niney, co-director of the horror films "The Eye" and "They", David Moreau, 44, was accused of sexual assault by a technician.
The facts would have taken place outside the set and working hours, the weekend of September 12-13 in Sète (Hérault), without witnesses.
The technician who accuses David Moreau chose to quit filming immediately and told some members of the team of her intention to file a complaint.
A judicial source confirmed to us that a complaint had been filed and that the Montpellier prosecutor's office should soon open an investigation.
“As soon as I was informed that an incident had occurred on the sidelines of the shooting, I immediately went there,” says Didar Domehri, co-producer of the film.
I spoke to the relevant technician and conducted individual interviews with all the members of the team.
I spent a lot of time listening to try to understand the situation.
It was important that everyone's word be heard.
To preserve serenity on the set, we decided to act quickly, in the prerogatives which are ours and this while respecting the presumption of innocence.
The director was withdrawn from the shoot the time to see more clearly.
It is our responsibility as producers that all our technicians can work on a shoot with complete peace of mind.
"
The "young generation" upset by the affair
Didar Domehri specifies that David Moreau - who did not respond to our interview request - will be set back from the postproduction of “King”.
All of these decisions were obviously taken in consultation with the film's co-producers, and in particular Pathé.
The story of a girl who takes in a lion cub escaped from animal trafficking and decides to bring it back to Africa, “King” was co-written by David Moreau himself.
The feature film features Gérard Darmon, Thibault de Montalembert or Eye Haïdara, but not François Cluzet, contrary to what several sites and press articles indicate.
The shooting of this family film with a budget of 15 million euros had started on March 13 in the Paris region, three days before the first confinement.
It was therefore interrupted and resumed in July.
When David Moreau left the set a week after the accusation against him, he was replaced by his director of photography, Antoine Sanier, for the end of the shooting in Auvergne, from September 21 to October 9.
According to a technician present on the set, the "young generation" was particularly upset by the affair: "The producer reacted with great courage by choosing not to keep the matter silent and to listen to everyone.
There is clearly a
MeToo effect
: five years ago, David Moreau would not have been ruled out… ”considers this professional.
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Another member of the team, who arrived on the set at the end of the filming, says that he was not made aware of the accusation: "When I saw that David Moreau was not there, they just told me. says:
There are two directors, today it's Antoine Sanier who takes over
.
Health measures were omnipresent on the set, so I thought that David Moreau had the Covid or was in contact ... "" From the start, this filming in the midst of a health crisis was complicated, emphasizes Didar Domehri.
But the team has been great and supportive from start to finish.
The theatrical release of "King" is currently scheduled for 2021.
