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Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon were taken into custody on Monday, July 1, 2024, following complaints from actresses, including Judith Godrèche, for acts of sexual violence. Here is what we know about this case that is shaking up French cinema.
An important step for the #Metoo movement. French directors Jacques Doillon and Benoît Jacquot, accused of sexual violence against a minor by Judith Godrèche in particular but also implicated by several other women, have been summoned by the Paris Brigade for the Protection of Minors with a view to being placed in police custody this Monday, July 1, 2024. Here is what we know about this case.
What are Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon accused of?
Judith Godrèche accused Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of rape. She filed a complaint against the two directors in early February. The events allegedly took place when the actress was still a minor. The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the “offenses of rape of a minor under 15 by a person in authority, rape, violence by a cohabitant, and sexual assault of a minor over 15 by a person in authority.”
Two other actresses have filed complaints against Benoît Jacquot: Julia Roy for sexual assault and Isild le Besco, at the end of May, for rape of a minor over 15 years old and rape.
As for Jacques Doillon, he is also accused by Anna Mouglalis and Isild Le Besco of acts of sexual violence. The world notably collected the testimonies of these actresses.
What do the two directors risk?
The facts of which the two filmmakers are accused are punishable by twenty years of imprisonment, even if they are probably subject to statute of limitations. Indeed, Judith Godrèche’s accusations against Benoît Jacquot relate to facts that allegedly took place from their meeting in 1986, when she was 14 and the director 39, and lasted until 1992.
As for Jacques Doillon, his lawyer Marie Dosé assures that “none of the legal criteria could justify this measure” of police custody, “36 years” after the facts denounced by Judith Godrèche. Her client “should have been heard in the context of a free hearing in view of the age of the facts, their prescription acquired for more than two decades, and the inevitable classification without follow-up which will close this investigation” she added.
How do the two filmmakers defend themselves?
The facts denounced by Judith Godrèche are contested by Benoît Jacquot, who claims not to have had sexual intercourse with the actress before she was 15 (the age of sexual consent established in France). The director also claims that it was a story of shared love. However, the latter declared to the newspaper The world early February, feeling “responsible for having been charmed by a young girl at a non-canonical age”, while admitting that “at 15, you can’t really consent.”
Jacques Doillon, for his part, has always denied the accusations against him. In particular, he filed a complaint against Judith Godrèche for defamation after she accused him of having “slept with children who were in his films” on the social network Instagram. Jacques Doillon’s lawyer then denounced “ignoble remarks that go beyond understanding”.
