With “Me Too” Judith Godrèche keeps the promise she made to those who wrote to her

CINEMA – After putting the subject of sexual violence on the agenda of the Cannes Film Festival, Judith Godrèche brought it to the small screen. For several months, the French actress has become one of the leading figures of the #MeToo movement in cinema in France. His short film titled Me too was broadcast on May 23 on France 5 in the show C this evening. It is available in replay for three months.

The film was presented for the first time during the opening ceremony of the section In some perspective at Cannes a few days ago. It was on this occasion that the actress and director climbed the stairs covering her mouth with her hands..

The ten-minute film is available on the Francetv website. It features the director’s daughter, Tess Barthélémy, in the middle of a rally in the streets of Paris. The young woman dressed in a long white dress first strolls around the demonstrators, mainly women.

They take turns placing both hands over their mouths, as if to remain silent. Tess Barthélémy begins a choreography, whose dance steps echo the freedom of speech of victims of sexual violence, while testimonies of assault, rape or incest are read by a voice-over.

5000 testimonials

A large, joyful scene of collective dancing ensues. “ After coming out of my silence, on February 7, 2024, I created an email address to be able to welcome the words of all those who wrote to me ‘Me too’. In 15 days, I received 5,000 testimonials,” says Judith Godrèche at the end of the short film.

Before adding: “ I made all these people the promise of a project that would pay tribute to them. On March 23, 2024, 1,000 of them came to occupy this avenue in Paris with me. “They came from all over France” and even from Australia », Specifies the director in the production notes.

Judith Godrèche filed a complaint at the beginning of the year against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for rape and sexual or physical violence which dates back to her adolescence. A preliminary investigation was opened in Paris against the two directors, who deny the accusations.

His positions led to a new movement for freedom of speech in the French cinema world, seven years after the birth of #MeToo in Hollywood. And this month, the National Assembly approved the creation of a commission of inquiry into “ abuse and violence » in cinema, audiovisual, live entertainment, fashion and advertising, giving substance to a request from the actress.

Me tooa collective speech

With her short film, she intends to give another scope to the testimonies she received. “ With their permission, they would be used in snatches of sentences, but never attributed by namecontinues the actress. If women wanted to be present and not be filmed, they could come anyway. »

The final scene illustrates this well. In this sequence shot where we see the crowd advancing in silence, some of the marchers are blurred. Others are clear. “ Many people who chose to appear in the film experienced many conflicting emotions along the way.continues Judith Godrèche. Moments of panic where they wondered if they could show up in broad daylight in a space where everyone present had been a victim of rape or assault. »

The human tide they make up is impressive. “ In this last shot, I wanted the victims filmed to take hold of the film, for the camera to look at them, almost feeling a little afraid in the face of this compact crowd advancing, overflowing it. », whispers the French cinema star.

Internet users have until August 21 inclusive to watch the short film again Me too.

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