A clear acceleration in a flagship French #metoo survey. Filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon were taken into police custody on Monday 1is July, to the minor protection brigade, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned from sources close to the case. Both are accused of sexual violence by actresses, including Judith Godrèche.
The two men, who contest these accusations, arrived around 9:30 a.m. at the regional directorate of the judicial police (DRPJ), in Paris, accompanied by their lawyers, noted an AFP journalist.
Benoît Jacquot “will finally be able to express himself in court”reacted his lawyer, M.e Julia Minkowski, who reported police custody “criticisable”. “A free hearing should have been decided. » “I deplore all of these dysfunctions of justice, thanks to ultra-mediatization which leads to unacceptable excesses”she added.
For mee Marie Dosé, lawyer for Jacques Doillon, “none of the legal criteria can justify this measure” custody ” thirty six years “ after the facts reported 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 dismissal of any further action which will close this investigation”she added in a press release.
The two lawyers denounced the “attacks on the presumption of innocence” of their customers and the media coverage of these measures.
According to sources close to the case, these police custody periods could lead to confrontations between the directors and some of their accusers, including Judith Godrèche.
” I’m crying (…). I don’t know if I have the strength but I will. I’ll have it, I’ll have it”, reacted the actress on Instagram Monday morning, in a message accompanied by a photo in which she appears with Benoît Jacquot. M’s lawyerme Godrèche, Me Laure Heinich did not wish to comment, recalling the secrecy of the investigation.
Predation system
At the beginning of February, the 52-year-old actress sparked a new storm in the French #metoo by successively accusing Benoît Jacquot of rape then Jacques Doillon of sexual assault and filing a complaint.
Judith Godrèche filed a complaint against Benoît Jacquot on February 6 with the juvenile protection brigade. 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.” These acts are punishable by twenty years of imprisonment, even if they are probably subject to the statute of limitations. They took place from their meeting in 1986, when she was 14 and the filmmaker was 39, and lasted until 1992. Judith Godrèche mentioned a relationship of“grip” and of « perversion ». Benoît Jacquot denies all of these accusations and insists on the character ” lover “ of this long relationship, devoid according to him of brutality and predation.
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Julia Roy, 42 years younger than him and who starred in four of his films between 2016 and 2021, filed a complaint for sexual assault in “a context of violence and moral constraint which lasted several years”according to a source close to the matter.
Read the survey | Article reserved for our subscribers “It’s a story about a kidnapped child”: actress Judith Godrèche files complaint against director Benoît Jacquot
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In the documentary by Gérard Miller – himself accused of sexual assault and rape – The Tricks of Desire. The Forbidden (2011)Benoît Jacquot spoke of cinema as a ” blanket “ for his “customs” and described his cinematographic practice as a “illicit trafficking”, confessing his attraction to minor actresses, including Judith Godrèche, Virginie Ledoyen and Isild Le Besco. Judith Godrèche explained that viewing these archives served as a trigger for her and prompted her to file a complaint.
Two other actresses have filed complaints against Mr. Jacquot: Julia Roy for sexual assault; Isild le Besco, at the end of May, for rape of a minor over 15 years old and rapes, which were allegedly committed between 1998 and 2007. In an investigation by the Mondethey testify, and Vahina Giocante also reports sexual harassment.
Read the survey | Article reserved for our subscribers Benoît Jacquot, a system of predation under the guise of cinema
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Jacques Doillon is also accused of rape, sexual assault and harassment by actresses Judith Godrèche, Anna Mouglalis and Isild Le Besco, including The world collected the testimonies.
Mme Godrèche accuses him of having it “groped” during an unplanned sex scene on the set of a movie in 1989 when she was 15. Isild Le Besco also said she had to endure Mr. Doillon’s advances during work sessions, while actress Anna Mouglalis accused the filmmaker of having kissed her by force at his home in 2011. The director said he wanted to reserve his explanations to the courts.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Jacques Doillon accused of rape, sexual assault and harassment by actresses Judith Godrèche, Anna Mouglalis and Isild Le Besco
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This new wave of accusations in the French #metoo movement has set French cinema in turmoil at the start of 2024 and has shaken the César ceremony and the Cannes Film Festival.
A commission of inquiry into sexual violence in cinema, audiovisual, performing arts, fashion and advertising began in May, but was stopped abruptly after the dissolution of the National Assembly at the beginning of June .
On Friday, Dominique Boutonnat, one of the most powerful men in the profession in France, left the head of the National Cinema Center (CNC) after his conviction for sexual assault. Gérard Depardieu must be tried in October in Paris for sexual assault on two women, and risks a trial for rape for a third. He is accused by thirteen women of sexual violence in an investigation Mediapart.
