" Shame! The exit of Adèle Haenel, on the announcement of the César award for best achievement to Roman Polanski for "J'accuse", will undoubtedly remain as the strong image of the 45th ceremony of French cinema. The symbol of a divided profession on the attitude to adopt towards the brilliant director, accused of rape by several women and appointed twelve times Friday evening. Was it necessary to award one of the most prestigious Césars to the scenario writer?
By a brief (“disgusted”) message on Instagram, the mistress of ceremony, Florence Foresti, replied in the negative. According to our information, she should even have returned to the stage at the end of the evening for the traditional family photo, but she "could not return" after the victory of Roman Polanski.
After the departure of Adèle Haenel and Céline Sciamma, the director of the "Portrait of the young girl on fire" in which the actress plays, and the end of the ceremony, the controversy continued behind the scenes in the Pleyel room . Winner of the César Award for Best Supporting Actor for “Grâce à Dieu”, a film on pedophilia in the Church, Swann Arlaud considered the choice of the Academy “incomprehensible” and supported Adèle Haenel, whose claims to have "of course" understood the rushed exit.
VIDEO. "Adèle Haenel did well to leave the room"
The regrets of Sara Forestier
Also present in Salle Pleyel, the director Mati Diop said she was "disappointed" and praised the "courage to speak Adèle Haenel, which was vital and essential". "This Caesar is as if we were telling women to close their mouths ... All evening long, there were top-level speeches in favor of women and there ... It didn't last until the end", rebounded meanwhile actress Laure Calamy.
One of the only discordant speeches came from Fanny Ardant. Rewarded for her role in "La Belle Époque", the actress said she was "very happy" for Roman Polanski, whom she "loves". "Afterwards, not everyone agrees, but long live freedom," she explained after the ceremony. I will follow someone to the guillotine. I don't like condemnation. An opinion shared by former agent Dominique Besnehard, who said he was "very happy". "It is the result of a democratic vote and Polanski is a very great director," he added.
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The controversy then continued on social networks. Another Adèle, Adèle Exarchopoulos, took a stand in favor of Adèle Haenel on Instagram. "Fortunately you exist," she wrote there.
Sara Forestier, who was in the room Friday evening for the film "Roubaix, a light", expressed her regret on Instagram this Saturday morning. "I should have left the room. We should have left the room, ”she said, adding that she could not sleep all night. “That Polanski's film is eligible is one thing, linked to the responsibility of the French state to keep Polanski on its soil, but devoting it to it is another. It is our responsibility, we filmmakers. And deeply I feel bad, ”she adds. Before concluding: "I am thinking of women, and clearly there this evening by making the choice to reward it, some have chosen to stifle a reality to pretend that the situation is normal. "
Sara Forestier's reaction on Instagram
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I should have left the room. We should have left the room. I did not manage to sleep overnight. It was afterwards, alone in my room, that I realized the terror of the situation. That the polanski film is eligible is one thing, linked to the responsibility of the French state to keep Polanski on its soil, but devoting it to it is another. It is our responsibility, we filmmakers. And deeply I feel bad. We cannot pretend that he is an ordinary citizen, since he is a fugitive. I think of women, and clearly there tonight by making the choice to reward it some have chosen to stifle a reality to pretend that the situation is normal. Not being a fugitive is not normal, nor acceptable. # césarsdelahonte Wake up!
A post shared by Sara Forestier (@sara_forestier) on Feb 29, 2020 at 2:38 am PST