French film director accused of abusing actress Adele Haenel goes on trial

PARIS – French film director Christophe Ruggia went on trial on Dec 9 on charges of sexually abusing actress Adele Haenel when she was underage in one of the first #MeToo cases to emerge from French cinema.

Haenel, a prize-winning actress in movies such as Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, has accused Ruggia of repeatedly touching her inappropriately after they met working on the movie The Devils in 2001 when she was 12 and he was 36.

She first publicly accused him in 2019 of exercising undue control over her, isolating her from her family and crewmembers, while also forcing her and co-star Vincent Rottiers into filming gruelling scenes that they were uncomfortable with.

Ruggia denies the allegations, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, and a €150,000 (S$212,000) fine.

Haenel has become the first famous face of the #MeToo movement in France, where the movement has received a much more tepid reaction than in the United States. She has recently retired from the film industry, citing complacency over alleged sexual predators still working in the business.

Ruggia is not the first man in French cinema to face charges over his behaviour on set. Gerard Depardieu, one of France’s leading actors,

is due to go on trial in 2025

on accusation of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021.

Haenel accuses Ruggia of abusing her from the age of 12 to 15, during and after the filming of The Devils, which tells the story of two abandoned siblings searching for their home.

She told investigators she often went to Ruggia’s house, where he would touch her between her legs and caress her chest. She said his actions affected her school work and provoked suicidal thoughts.

“Christophe told me that he was in love with me and that the age difference was a curse for him and that unfortunately I was an adult in a child’s body,” she told police.

The trial is expected to last two days. REUTERS