France arrests two filmmakers over sexual harassment allegations

French authorities on Monday detained two leading art-house directors, Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, for questioning over sexual harassment allegations, as a reckoning over the #MeToo movement rocks the French film industry.

Their hearings into alleged abuses, some of which date back to the 1980s and all of which they deny, come at a time when activists say French cinema has covered up abuses for too long.

An AFP journalist saw Jacquot, 77, and Doillon, 80, arrive at a Paris police station on Monday morning accompanied by their lawyers.

Judicial sources said those arrested could be held until Tuesday evening and could potentially be questioned in the presence of prosecutors.

Judith Godreche, a 52-year-old actress and director, earlier this year formally accused Jacquot of rape and Doillon of sexual assault when she was a minor, allegations both men deny.

She described Jacquot as having an unhealthy “power” over her during a “perverse” relationship with him that began when she was 14, from 1986 to 1992.

She also accused Doillon of “putting his fingers down her panties” during a test for one of his films when she was 15 and still with Jacquot.

Several other actors also filed complaints against both men.

Isild Le Besco, 41, claims Jacquot raped her between 1998 and 2007 during a relationship that began when she was 16 and he was 52.

Julia Roy, a 34-year-old actress who has appeared in several of his films, accused him of sexual assault “in a context of violence and moral restraint that lasted several years,” a source close to the case said.

Sources close to the case said the hearing could last until late Tuesday and could include a confrontation with those accusing them.

Le Besco also claims that Doillon propositioned her during photo shoots, while actress Anna Mouglalis claims the director forced her to kiss him in 2011.

– ‘Cry’ –

The directors’ lawyers said there was no need to detain them for questioning and that they should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Julia Minkowski, Jacquot’s lawyer, said her client “will finally be able to express himself before the law”, condemning what she called “unacceptable abuse” in media coverage of the case.

Doillon’s lawyer, Marie Dose, said there were no legal criteria to justify detaining him for questioning “36 years” after the incident Godreche alleged, and that he could have answered questions without being held in custody.

The prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest of both men, but added that both are currently considered innocent.

Godreche wrote on Instagram that she was deeply moved.

“I’m crying,” she wrote.

“I don’t know if I have the strength, but I will. I will have it… For her,” she wrote, posting a photo of herself as a teenager next to Jacquot, 25 years her senior.

Her lawyer, Laure Heinich, declined to comment.

Since breaking her silence, Godreche has become a leading voice in the French #MeToo movement.

Following her call for a cinema watchdog, French lawmakers in May voted to set up a commission to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in the film industry and other cultural sectors.

The head of France’s largest film institution, Dominique Boutonnat, resigned from his position on Friday after being convicted of sexually assaulting his godson in 2020.

Boutonnat was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended. He will serve the year in prison at home, wearing an electronic bracelet.

Film legend Gerard Depardieu, 75, will go on trial in October for sexually assaulting two women.

He also risks a second trial after being accused in 2020 of raping an actress who was 22 years old in 2018.

He denies all accusations.

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