Two French filmmakers detained for questioning over sexual harassment allegations

French authorities detained leading film directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon on Monday, July 1, for questioning over allegations of sexual harassment, sources close to the case told Agence France-Presse (AFP). An AFP journalist saw the two men, who deny the allegations, arrive at a Paris police station on Monday morning accompanied by their lawyers.

Judith Godrèche, a 52-year-old actress and director, has formally accused Jacquot of rape and Doillon of sexual assault when she was a minor, accusations that both men have denied. She described Jacquot as having an unhealthy “power” over her during their relationship with him, which began when she was 14, from 1986 to 1992. Godrèche accused Doillon of on-set abuse while she was in one of his films.

read more ‘It’s the story of a kidnapped child’: actress Judith Godrèche accuses director Benoît Jacquot of rape

Fellow actress Isild Le Besco, 41, also formally accused Jacquot of raping her between 1998 and 2007 during an abusive relationship that began when she was 16 and he was 52.

read more French actress and director Isild Le Besco on surviving violence

Actress Julia Roy, 34, also filed a sexual assault complaint against him, “in the context of violence and moral restraint spanning several years,” said a source close to the case.

The director’s lawyers said there was no need to detain them for questioning and stressed that they should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Jacquot’s lawyer, Julia Minkowski, said her client “will finally be able to express his opinion before the law.”

Doillon’s lawyer, Marie Dosé, said no legal criteria justified detaining him for questioning “36 years” after the incident Godrèche alleged.

read more Three actresses accuse director Jacques Doillon of rape, sexual assault and harassment

Godrèche wrote on Instagram that she was deeply moved that the police had finally called the two directors. “I’m crying… From all this… I don’t know if I have the strength, but I will. I will… For her,” she wrote, posting a photo of herself as a teenager next to Jacquot, who is 25 years her senior.

read more Under the guise of cinema, director Benoît Jacquot created a predatory system

The French film industry is grappling with accusations that it covered up wrongdoing for too long, including after a series of allegations against 75-year-old film legend Gérard Depardieu, which he denies.

Since breaking her silence, Godrèche has become a leading voice in France’s #MeToo movement. After calling for a cinema watchdog, parliament voted in May to create a commission to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in the film industry and other cultural sectors.

read more Cinema’s destructive obsession with girls and young women

Le Monde from AFP

Reuse this content