French director Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall wins six trophies at Cesar

PARIS – France’s annual movie awards ceremony took a sombre turn with a standing ovation for French actress Judith Godreche, who spoke out against sexual violence in the film industry.

“Why accept that this art that we love so much, this art that unites us, be used as a cover for illicit trafficking of young women?“ Godreche, 51, told the 49th Cesar Awards ceremony on Feb 23.

“I think we are really seeing the French #MeToo now. It took us some time and we’re going through it now,” said French director Justine Triet, 45, whose film Anatomy Of A Fall (2023) won six trophies, including best movie, best director and best actress for Sandra Huller.

The thriller about a wife accused of murdering her husband is one of France’s biggest international art house hits in recent years.

“I would like to dedicate this Cesar to all women... to those who succeed and those who fail, those who have been hurt and who liberate themselves by speaking, and those who do not succeed,” said Triet, who in May became the third woman film-maker to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Police opened an investigation earlier in February after Godreche filed

a complaint for sexual violence against French film director Benoit Jacquot, 77,

with whom she had a relationship in the late 1980s when she was a minor.

Godreche also accused director Jacques Doillon, 79, of sexually assaulting her while directing her in one of his films when she was 15.

Both directors have denied the allegations.

Reuters could not reach Jacquot for comment. He has told Le Monde newspaper his first sexual relationship with Godreche happened after her 15th birthday, the legal age of consent in France. Godreche told French media she was 14.

In an interview with Le Monde, Jacquot, who is 25 years older than Godreche, denied any violence towards her.

Leftist union CGT Spectacle held a protest outside the Cesar venue.

“Judith Godreche has had the courage to talk about her story, about the sexual violence so many women have suffered in a professional environment,” CGT said.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati – one of the first in the audience to stand after Godreche’s remarks – said the French film industry was only now becoming aware of “collective blindness that lasted for years” regarding sexual violence in French cinema.

She told French publication Le Film Francais that art was no excuse for crime. “We are not talking about art, but pedocriminality,” she said.

Godreche, who starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1998 The Man In The Iron Mask, had a breakout role in a 1986 Jacquot movie.

French cinema has been rocked by allegations that it has shrugged off sexism and sexual abuse for decades, and criticism that the arts have too long provided cover for abuse.

Screen legend Gerard Depardieu, 75, has been charged with rape and has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than a dozen women. He denies the allegations.

French President Emmanuel Macron came under fire for remarks defending the actor, whom he said had become the target of a “manhunt”. REUTERS, AFP