The question has been raised for several weeks, following speeches by Judith Godrèche and other actresses on the influence and violence against women in cinema: will there be union or association demonstrations? feminists in front of the Olympia on the evening of the César ceremony, this Friday, February 23?
The response came this Wednesday late afternoon, via a press release from the CGT Spectacle calling for a rally under the slogan “The violence, the silences, that’s enough!”
» However, this organization is not the only one to launch this call, other union federations are joining it, as well as several associations and movements such as the 50/50 Collective or the SRF (Society of French Directors).
Which suggests a large-scale mobilization, such as that which we experienced on February 28, 2020 in front of the Salle Pleyel, while the “J’accuse” of Roman Polanski, accused of rape or sexual assault by several women, accumulated several nominations, an evening which ended with the resounding departure from the room of the actress Adèle Haenel, and had led, later, to an in-depth overhaul of the César Academy.
However, the context and prospects for the 2024 edition of the Césars seem radically different.
Many female talents are nominated in several categories, no nominee is the subject of any suspicion or legal action regarding aggression, control, or violence against women... And, above all, the Academy has proposed to Judith Godrèche, who filed a complaint against the directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for rape of a minor, to take the stage to give a speech on sexual and gender-based violence in cinema.
“External and internal speeches will not contradict each other but add to each other…”
So why add a gathering outside the Olympia?
“First of all, when we decided on this mobilization, speaking on stage was not decided by the Academy,” explains Salomé Gadafi, deputy general secretary of the CGT Spectacle.
And if the words of actresses are liberated and seem to be listened to, there are many others, actresses or technicians, for whom this is not the case or who do not speak.
We asked the Academy to speak on stage before Judith Godrèche, but this was not accepted.
There will therefore be one speech inside, and another, collective, outside…”
The CGT Spectacle, however, wishes to provide a nuance compared to the February 2020 gathering at the Salle Pleyel: “Friday, it will not be a mobilization against the ceremony, but rather other voices so that the message gets across,” continues the secretary. general of the federation.
When asked if this action does not risk being counterproductive compared to that organized by the Césars with the presence of Judith Godrèche, Salomé Gadafi, who hopes to mobilize “a lot of people” for the occasion, replies: “It does not It's not just the interested party who will express themselves, the external and internal speeches will not contradict each other but add to each other…” The atmosphere is therefore likely to be electric in front of the red carpet on Boulevard des Capucines on Friday.
Furthermore, the CGT Spectacle is also calling for a “feminist strike” of the entire entertainment industry on March 8, for International Women's Rights Day, which means a work stoppage movement in the exercise of functions. professional, “but also for domestic tasks”