Impossible to act as if nothing had happened.
While, for several weeks, French cinema has been successively shaken by the Depardieu scandal, then by the accusations targeting directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, the César ceremony will give the floor to Judith Godrèche this Friday, February 23.
During the evening which will take place at the Olympia from 8:45 p.m. (and will be broadcast live and unencrypted on Canal +), the 51-year-old actress will take the stage to give a speech on sexual and gender-based violence in cinema .
In the autobiographical series “Icon of French Cinema”, broadcast since the end of December on Arte.tv, then on Arte, Judith Godrèche evokes, without naming him, her relationship with Benoît Jacquot when she was 14 and he was 40. Last January 6 , the actress wrote on Instagram: “The little girl in me can no longer keep quiet about this name.
His name is Benoît Jacquot.
» Since then, she has recounted in Le Monde having been the victim of punches, belt blows and sexual abuse at the hands of the director, now 77 years old, against whom she filed a complaint for “violent rape of minor under 15 years of age.
Also read: Freedom of speech: “It is extremely difficult to oppose someone who is known and esteemed”
In the daily newspaper, other actresses testified against the filmmaker who signed auteur films like “Tosca”, “Villa Amalia” or “Les Adieux à la Reine”.
Among them, Julia Roy, who was Benoît Jacquot's companion between 2013 and 2019, claims to have suffered verbal and physical violence.
Isild Le Besco, who met Jacquot in 1999, when she was 16 (and he was 52), admits to having suffered “psychological or physical violence”.
As for Vahina Giocante, she recounts how the filmmaker sexually harassed and blackmailed her, promising to give her the next role if she slept with him.
Benoît Jacquot denies any violence and talks about consensual romantic relationships.
On February 8, Judith Godrèche also accused another director, Jacques Doillon, of having abused her when she was 15 years old.
The events allegedly took place during the filming of the film “The 15-year-old Girl”.
At the microphone of France Inter, she said that the director had “fired the actor who played
(her)
boyfriend to take his place and, suddenly, decided that there was a love scene, a scene of sex
(between her and him)
”.
Before indicating that “45 takes” were necessary.
The actress also filed a complaint against the 79-year-old filmmaker for “rape of a minor”.
In Le Monde, actresses Isild Le Besco and Anna Mouglalis accused Doillon of sexual assault and harassment.
The director denounced “lies”.
This Tuesday, we also learned that Judith Godrèche would be received in the Senate on Thursday February 29.
The actress must be heard from 9 a.m. by the delegation for women's rights and equal opportunities between men and women, according to the institution.