From MeToo to Moi Aussi, how Cannes has done a volte-face
THERE was some ugliness in Cannes last year when film festival chief Thierry Fremaux felt obliged to explain that it was not a ‘festival for rapists’ — contrary to chants from #MeToo protesters which greeted its opening film Jeanne Du Barry, starring Johnny Depp.
This year, though, the venerable event is showing that — finally — the times, they are a-changing.
Cannes will be hosting a film called Moi Aussi, made by actress Judith Godreche, about abuse within the French film culture. A release from the event notes says: ‘The Festival de Cannes wishes to give resonance to these personal accounts.’
Godreche’s film features victims of sexual abuse who contacted her after she appealed on Instagram for people to share their stories — and 6,000 replied.
She said: ‘Suddenly, before me, was a crowd of victims. So many stories, from all social backgrounds and generations. Then the question was: what I was going to do with them? What do you do when you’re overwhelmed by what you hear?’ Around a thousand of those who responded gathered on a street in Paris to take part in a performance led by Godreche’s daughter, the actress Tess Barthelemy.
The testimony of the victims has been made into a ‘choral’ piece for the short film, which will open the Un Certain Regard strand of the festival. It will also be shown in a screening on the beach next week.
Godreche, 52, filed complaints against two male directors with police in February last year. She accused Benoit Jacquot of rape, following their relationship — which began when she was 14 and lasted for six years. Jacquot, 29 years her senior, has denied the claims and said that he was ‘under her spell’.
Director and screenwriter Jacques Doillon was also accused of sexual assault after appearing with her in The 15 Year Old Girl, in 1989, which included intimate scenes. The late Jane Birkin, who was Doillon’s partner at the time, described watching him kissing Godreche during filming as ‘real agony’ in her memoir. Doillon also denies the allegations.
In a barnstorming speech at the Cesar’s (France’s Oscars) this year, Godreche said that the film industry had been used as a cover for the illicit exploitation of underaged actors and actresses.
Last week, legislators agreed to launch a government inquiry into sexual and gender-based violence across the country’s film, audiovisual, performing arts, advertising and fashion sectors.