accused of sexual violence against a minor, director Christophe Ruggia in court

On the top floor of a building on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, one Saturday in September 2001. A 12-year-old girl climbs the stairs two at a time. A dark-haired man with an unkempt appearance opens the door. It smells strongly of rolling tobacco. It’s the director Christophe Ruggia, then 36 years old. The door closes. The rest, Adèle Haenel recounts in November 2019 in an incriminating interview given to Mediapart, initially refusing to file a complaint because «la justice nous ignore, on ignore la justice». After four years of investigation, justice did not ignore her. The director was fired for “sexual assault on a minor by a person in authority”. He will be tried on December 9 and 10 before the criminal chamber specializing in cases related to minors of the Paris Criminal Court, 23 years after the events. He faces ten years in prison. Le Figaro reveals the contours of a complex legal investigation, where the excesses of a certain auteur cinema which has trivialized the ultra-sexualization of a child on screen are clearly outlined.

“Absolutely abusive” rehearsals

The first meeting dates back to December 2000. Christophe Ruggia, author of a first film The Gone of Chaâba, is looking for an actress for his next feature film The Devils. The theme: an incestuous love story between two young orphans, Joseph and his autistic sister, Chloé. Adèle Haenel has been taking theater lessons since she was five and has already appeared in a music video, but has never acted in the real world. Accompanied by her mother during the casting, she is selected by the director who perceives a “very little kid, who has a kind of crazy desire to play, an energy, an ability to listen too”he explains during an interrogation with the investigating judge. Christophe Ruggia is captivated by this 12-year-old child. “It’s difficult to describe, meeting an amateur actor or actress, you sense potential and Adèle had very strong potential.”

The team announces that scenes of nudity and sexual relations will take place between the actors, but this does not put off Adèle’s parents. She is a teacher involved in the life of Montreuil, a red suburb in full gentrification, he a translator. In the family, children have adult places and “Parents are not very protective.” “We were rather brought up to fend for ourselves”confides the actress during her audition. With his teammate Vincent Rottiers, 15 years old, they began workshops with the director’s sister, Véronique Ruggia. One or two days a week, they learn to mime anger, revolt, but also sex scenes that were until then…