Latest news with #Case137
France 24
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
As Cannes gets serious about #MeToo, has French cinema finally turned a corner?
If it weren't for the ban on nudity and 'voluminous' outfits, the latest controversy to fuel talk of policing women's dress, one might struggle to recognise Cannes this year. In an unprecedented move, the Cannes Film Festival banned a French actor from walking the red carpet on Thursday for the premiere of Dominik Moll's competition entry 'Case 137', because the actor faces accusations of rape. Hours later, the independent ACID sidebar that runs parallel to the festival said it had suspended one of its vice presidents after he was publicly accused of sexual assault during a Cannes roundtable. Two days earlier, during the festival's opening ceremony, host Laurent Laffitte paid tribute to French actress Adèle Haenel, whose decision years ago to walk out on French cinema over its culture of abuse and impunity was met by industry leaders with a collective shrug. 06:40 The very same morning, a court in Paris found French film giant Gérard Depardieu guilty of groping two women on a film set and handed him a suspended jail term – in a groundbreaking verdict that Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche said would 'of course' never have happened without the #MeToo movement. All of which points to a significant shift for a festival that had only paid lip service to the #MeToo movement until last year's edition offered the first hints of awareness. It comes two years after Cannes' decision to hand Johnny Depp's comeback movie 'Jeanne du Barry' the prestigious curtain raiser slot saw more than a hundred French actors blast the festival for 'rolling out the red carpet for aggressors'. A change of rules French actors Ariane Labed and Alma Jodorowsky were among the 123 signatories – the vast majority women – of the Libération op-ed denouncing the festival in 2023. Two years on, they say the festival's radical change of stance is a win for all victims of abuse. 'We took issue with Cannes two years ago because they were clearly not up to the job,' says Labed, who has starred in several films by Yorgos Lanthimos. 'Now we're delighted to see the festival take these matters seriously.' Jodorowsky adds: 'To have to see their aggressors be showcased and honoured in all impunity is a double punishment for the victims of abuse. It's important that major institutions like Cannes ensure they don't suffer this way.' The world's most prestigious film festival has introduced new rules this year requiring movie producers to guarantee that films submitted respect the 'safety, integrity and dignity' of all contributors. Théo Navarro-Mussy, the actor who was barred from the red carpet premiere of 'Case 137', was accused of rape by three former partners in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The case was dropped last month due to lack of evidence, but French media report that the three women plan to file a civil lawsuit. 'It is because there is an appeal, and therefore the investigation is still active, that the case is not suspended,' Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux told French magazine Télérama. 'When a legal decision becomes final, the situation changes.' The movie's director, whose previous film 'The Night of the 12th' centred on an unsolved case of femicide, said he supported the ban. 'It was the proper decision,' Moll told AP. 'Out of respect for the women, the plaintiffs.' 'Endemic' abuse The build-up to cinema's annual Riviera gathering has been overshadowed by a damning French parliamentary inquiry into the entertainment industry published in early April, which concluded that 'moral, sexist, and sexual violence in the cultural sector is systemic, endemic, and persistent'. 06:21 The six-month inquiry heard testimony from around 350 people in the film, TV, theatre and performing arts industries, including some the biggest names in French cinema. Its chair, Green Party lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau, called on Cannes to set an example in stamping out abuse. 'The Cannes Film Festival must be the place where this shift in mindset happens,' Rousseau told reporters. 'The place where we say loud and clear (...) amid the glitter and the red carpets (...) that finally, we all want things to change: every one of us, at every level of the industry.' Labed and Jodorowsky, both members of the ADA association of actors who campaign against sexual and sexist violence on film sets, agree that the festival has a special duty when it comes to cracking down on abuse. 'The film world and Cannes in particular enjoy a great deal of exposure – and this comes with a duty towards society,' says Jodorowsky, who walked the red carpet on Friday for her part in the Nathalie Portman-produced animated film 'Arco'. 'It's important to show that domination, abuse and the culture of rape are no longer acceptable.' Cult of the auteur The parliamentary inquiry owes much to the strenuous campaigning of French actor and director Judith Godrèche, whose accounts of the grooming she says she endured as a teenage actor triggered a belated #MeToo reckoning in France. Last year, Cannes screened a short film by Godrèche titled ' Moi Aussi ' ("Me Too", in French), a choral piece uniting victims of all ages, some them male, who find strength and solace in speaking out about their personal trauma. The screening marked one of the highlights of a festival that has long been accused of doing too little to foster gender parity in film and where the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein once held court. In 2017, at the dawn of the #MeToo era, Godrèche was among the first to speak out against Weinstein, telling the New York Times that the film producer assaulted her in a hotel during the Cannes Film Festival two decades earlier, when she was 24. Since then, the press has been awash with reports of industry insiders, Cannes chauffeurs and hotel staff confirming Weinstein's predatory behaviour. For years, however, France's own Weinsteins evaded scrutiny, shielded by ingrained suspicion of the #MeToo movement as a puritanical witch-hunt imported from America – and by what film expert Geneviève Sellier describes as a 'cult of the auteur' that has long been used to excuse or cover up reprehensible behaviour. 'The cult of the auteur places artistic genius – regarded as necessarily male – above the law,' says Sellier, a professor emeritus at Bordeaux-Montaigne University who runs a blog on film and gender. 'This French tradition explains in part why the country remains largely blind to the realities of male domination and abuse.' Cautious optimism The notion that art should shield artists from scrutiny has taken a hit with the guilty verdict handed this week to Depardieu – who, as late as December 2023, was defended by French President Emmanuel Macron as a 'genius of his art' who 'makes France proud', and a victim of a 'manhunt'. Carine Durrieu Diebolt, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs in the case, described the ruling as 'the victory of two women' and 'of all women beyond this trial'. She added: 'Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema. (...) And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I'd like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu's victims.' 02:31 Depardieu, who is appealing the conviction, was ordered to pay a further €1,000 each to the plaintiffs over the 'excessive harshness' displayed in court by his lawyer, who sparked outrage by branding the women 'hysterical' and 'liars' working for the cause of 'rabid feminism'. The latter decision is an important step forward, says Jodorowsky, noting that the cards are still stacked against the victims in cases of sexual abuse. Last year, more than 22,000 rapes were reported in France, but fewer than 3 percent led to convictions. Expressing 'guarded optimism', Labed cautions that it is much too early to suggest the #MeToo movement has 'won'. She adds: 'We won't be satisfied until we have a comprehensive – and well-funded – policy of tackling violence against women and all forms of discrimination, whether it is based on gender, sexual orientation or race.' Words into action Likewise, much remains to be done within the film world to prevent such cases of abuse. In its final report, the parliamentary inquiry chaired by Rousseau made nearly 90 recommendations, including better safeguarding for children and women during castings and on set. It noted that the entertainment industry was often a 'talent shredder' while casting calls were 'a place of highest danger'. The key challenge now is for lawmakers and the industry to translate the report's findings into concrete action, says Sellier, noting that the 'defensive posture' adopted by many industry workers during parliamentary auditions 'begs the question of whether they have really grasped the scale of the problem'. Advocacy groups like ADA have welcomed a recent announcement by the National Centre for Cinema (CNC), which helps finance and promote French film productions, that it will expand training programmes to prevent abuse in the industry, including for festival executives. At a Cannes roundtable on Thursday, where a woman stood up to say she had been abused by an executive from the ACID independent festival, CNC director Gaëtan Bruel said the #MeToo movement had acted as an 'electroshock' forcing the film world to 'confront its darker sides'. Bruel, whose predecessor Dominique Boutonnat was forced to step down last year following a conviction for sexual assault, said the CNC might complement its current policy of financial 'incentives' for films that have gender parity on set with a policy of 'punishing' those that don't. Where are the men? Jodorowsky says she has recently witnessed progress in safeguarding actors on French film sets, spurred by the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers and actors who have greater awareness of these issues. She points to the growing practice of including so-called intimacy coordinators on film sets to ensure the well-being and consent of actors and better regulate intimate scenes. 'We've campaigned hard to ensure their work is recognised and to have a proper training programme for intimacy coordinators in film schools, because there was none in France,' she explains. 'Compared to the English-speaking world, we still have some catching up to do when it comes to making film sets truly safe environments,' adds Labed, whose directorial debut 'September & July' premiered in Cannes last year. 'But we're making progress.' Asked whether she felt that male actors were starting to play their part in denouncing and combating abuse, she answered with a straight, 'No'. 'Our male colleagues are simply not by our side. And when they're asked to testify in parliament, they do so behind closed doors,' Labed says. 'It proves that, yes, we're moving forward, but with the hand-brake pulled.'
Hamilton Spectator
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
What Depardieu's conviction and Cannes' response means for #MeToo in France
PARIS (AP) — For powerful men in France's film industry, this was a week of reckoning. Gérard Depardieu — the country's most famous male actor — was convicted of sexual assault. Two days later, the Cannes Film Festival barred another actor accused of rape from walking the red carpet. Together, the decisions sent a message that France had long resisted: that artistic brilliance may no longer shield those who abuse their power. For decades, Depardieu was revered as French cinema's 'sacred monster' — a towering talent whose gluttony, volatility and magnetism became part of his myth. With more than 250 films to his name, many believed he would remain untouchable even after more than 20 women accused him of sexual misconduct . Now, that myth has cracked. The verdict has revived a broader question France has ducked since the dawn of the #MeToo movement: Can a country that celebrates seduction and irreverence finally hold its male icons to account ? France has long lived its own #MeToo contradiction. That talent, charm, or intellect forgives misconduct. That the art excuses the artist. This is the land that gave the world Brigitte Bardot's pout and Catherine Deneuve's poise — and then watched both recoil when the movement came knocking. Deneuve has defended 'the right' to seduce , while Bardot has dismissed feminism outright: 'I like men.' But the ground is shifting. Cannes' seismic shift Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence on Tuesday for groping two women on a 2021 film set. He denies the charges and is appealing. 'It's the end of impunity of artists with a capital A,' Carine Durrieu Diebolt, a lawyer for one of the two women who won their case against Depardieu, told The Associated Press. The verdict represented 'a bookend for putting actors on a pedestal because they were talented,' she added. Two days later, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival barred actor Théo Navarro-Mussy — accused of rape by three former partners — from attending the premiere of the movie 'Case 137,' which he stars in, even though the file was dropped for lack of evidence. The women are launching a civil complaint. Navarro-Mussy denies wrongdoing. His lawyer said that she's unaware of any ongoing proceedings against him. Dominik Moll, the movie's director, said he supported the move. 'It was the proper decision,' he told the AP. 'Out of respect for the women, the plaintiffs.' Yet what stunned wasn't just the decision, but who made it. Cannes director Thierry Frémaux had long been seen as emblematic of the old guard. He defended Roman Polanski for years and continued to screen his films despite the director's 1977 guilty plea in the U.S. for sex with a 13-year-old. In 2018, when asked why Cannes still included Polanski, Frémaux said: 'These are complicated matters.' Frémaux opened 2023's festival with a film starring Johnny Depp , despite the actor's highly public legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard over allegations of domestic abuse, in which he was never criminally charged. When asked about the backlash, Frémaux replied: 'I only have one rule: it's the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.' This week, the rules changed. 'The Cannes decision is of course linked to the Depardieu verdict,' said Céline Piques of Osez le féminisme ('Dare Feminism!'), a group that campaigns against sexual violence. '(They've) realized which way the wind is blowing. Frémaux is trying to right the wrongs.' Resistance remains Not everyone welcomed the verdict — or what followed — as a cultural turning point. Fanny Ardant, one of French cinema's grandes dames and a longtime friend of Depardieu, sat on his side in court . She is now directing him in a film in Portugal, despite the conviction. 'Fanny Ardant? She completely missed the point,' said Piques. 'She downplayed the violence, normalized it. That's rape culture, plain and simple.' Juliette Binoche, Cannes jury president and one of France's most respected actors, struck a note of restraint: 'He's not a monster. He's a man — one who has, apparently, been desacralized.' A justice system slowly opening In 2024, more than 22,000 rapes were reported in France. Fewer than 3% led to convictions. 'The Depardieu verdict shows there's progress,' said lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens, who works with victims of sexual assault. 'But for most women, the barriers to justice remain enormous.' When Bertrand Cantat — front man of Noir Désir and once one of France's bestselling rock singers — launched a 2018 comeback tour, he had served just four years in prison for killing his partner, actor Marie Trintignant, during a violent assault. Despite public outrage, he returned to the stage and performed. 'That would be unthinkable today,' said Piques. 'The public mood has changed. What we tolerate has changed.' The shift in shame One breakthrough came not from a film set, but a courtroom in Avignon. The conviction of 51 men for drugging and raping Gisele Pelicot — who chose to waive her anonymity and insisted on a public trial, turning private horror into public reckoning — marked a turning point. For years, shame was hers. Now, it belongs to the perpetrators. 'It proved rapists aren't just strangers in alleys,' said Piques. 'They're husbands. Colleagues. Respected men.' That shift in shame is now rippling through the cultural world — once seen as a bastion of male privilege. Director Christophe Ruggia was recently convicted of abusing actor Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, though he is appealing; and actor-director Nicolas Bedos, was sentenced for sexual assault. Is this a victory for #MeToo? Slowly but surely, yes. The system that long protected men like Depardieu is not yet dismantled, but it is shifting. As one of the actor's accusers said through tears after the ruling: 'I'm very, very much satisfied with the decision. That's a victory for me, really. And a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.' __ Associated Press journalist Louise Dixon in Cannes, France contributed to this report
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Reedland' Review: Outstanding Slow-Burn Thriller Announces Potentially Major New Dutch Director Sven Bresser
Johan (Gerrit Knobbe) is a reed-cutter. As 'Reedland' opens, we meet him in his natural habitat, surrounded by hissing, shivering reeds shot in close-up, then in wide shot. It's a sonic and visual maze, the natural world's equivalent of TV static: earth-bound, mud-rooted and subtly threatening in its hypnotic, fluttering illusion of uniformity. Reeds are the perfect hiding place for horrors, as will shortly become abundantly clear, when a girl's body is revealed in the dirt, in all its helplessness. A violent crime fracturing a tight-knit community is hardly a new subject for arthouse cinema, but it is handled here by freshman writer-director Sven Bresser with an original eye and a keen sense of how to generate a persistent atmosphere of foreboding. It was filmed in Weerribben-Wieden in the Netherlands, and the landscape is integral to this finely calibrated mood. 'Whispering' is probably the adjective most associated with reeds, giving the land the stark sense of harboring infinite witnesses who cannot speak of the crimes they have seen — at least, not in any language we can understand. More from Variety Beta Reveals Sales for 'Let It Rain,' 'The Physician II,' 'The Light' 'Case 137' Director Dominik Moll on Exploring the Gilets Jaunes Riots in His Cannes-Premiering Political Drama: 'These Divisions Still Exist' in French Society Breaking Through the Lens Co-Founder Daphne Schmon on What Has to Change for Gender Equity in Film: 'We Need Actions to Speak Louder Than Words' Well-chosen place-name titles are more than just a convenient piece of orientation for an audience. When used judiciously, they plant a flag in that location, forever binding the place and the film together. 'Reedland' is not the name of a town or road, but a terrain that provides the physical and psychological setting for an eerily poetic character study. Knobbe is an extraordinary presence as Johan, a widower who has worked at his job for decades, and is now also an attentive grandfather. As the camera studies Knobbe's weather-beaten face, you watch him, trying to place which Ingmar Bergman film you might know him from. But he isn't an actor, and you've never seen him before. He is an actual reed-cutter, discovered by Brasser during the process of researching and building the film, which makes his tightly controlled performance all the more impressive, and provides persuasive evidence of Brasser's aptitude as both talent-spotter and performance coach. Knobbe's face is shaped by his work in the outdoors, in a way that you simply don't see with actors nowadays, when a high proportion of both men and women seem to be engaged in counterintuitive quests to make their faces, the primary tool of an actor, less capable of expression. Knobbe's, by contrast, gives lived experience — it is its own craggy, fathomless landscape. In addition to Bergman, the lineage of European filmmakers into which this dark, finely judged film slots includes the likes of Michael Haneke and Thomas Vinterberg. But 'Reedland' also recalls Japanese director Kaneto Shindō's 1964 masterpiece 'Onibaba' with its hints of supernatural evil. There, as here, reedland is presented as a breeding ground for more than just mosquitoes: It contains madness and murder. The two films share some visual strategies, with reeds-as-labyrinth shots just as effective a motif now as they were 60 years ago. Not to suggest that DP Sam du Pon's camera only gets landscapes to work with. Numerous vignettes of the small community's existence both in public and private afford Bresser and du Pon the opportunity to explore how people reconcile their public and private selves, on one occasion via the precise framing of a shot where Johan engages with pornography on his laptop, and we glimpse artwork by his granddaughter pinned to a wall in the background. With a tight runtime, magnetic central performance and bleak but compelling subject matter, theatrical prospects could be potentially rewarding for an appropriate arthouse distributor. This is a film designed to be seen on the big screen, and while it should certainly have appeal for high-class streamers, it'd be a pity to see it skip cinemas. For audiences looking to take a step up from standard Scandi-noir murder fare on TV while staying firmly within the realm of accessible narrative cinema, 'Reedland' is an outstanding discovery. Best of Variety The Best Albums of the Decade
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Case 137' Director Dominik Moll on Exploring the Gilets Jaunes Riots in His Cannes-Premiering Political Drama: ‘These Divisions Still Exist' in French Society
Dominik Moll, the Cesar-winning French director whose film 'Case 137' world premiered in competition at Cannes on Thursday evening, talked about the timeliness of his movie which tackles police misconduct through the prism of a meticulous investigation. 'Case 137' is set during France's yellow vests protests and centers on a young man who gets injured by by a flash-ball projectile. Léa Drucker, who is also at Cannes with Laura Wandel's 'Adam's Sake,' stars in 'Case 137' as an investigator in the French IGPN (internal affairs) department who is assigned the task of determining who is responsible for the incident. More from Variety São Paulo's Film Cash Rebate Delivers Early Wins, Sets Stage for 2025 Edition Brazil's Trailblazing Film-TV Org Spcine Turns 10 'Left-Handed Girl' Review: Sean Baker Collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou's Solo Debut Pulses Like Taipei After Dark Moll started working on the project years ago, during the violent Gilets Jaunes protests that rocked the country in 2018 and 2019 as a vehicle to probe divides in French society. Yet, the film wasn't meant to be a bombshell political thriller as was Ladj Ly's 'Les Miserables' or Romain Gavras' 'Athena,' to name a couple French movies looking at police brutality. 'I don't like the idea of a film 'coup de poing,'' said Moll. 'What I like to do is try to explain how an institution works.' Speaking of the backdrop of the Gilets Jaunes riots, Moll said: 'It was a period that eroded political power and led to reactions and overreactions in terms of the deployment of law enforcement. It's a movement that really exposed the divisions that exist in French society, particularly between the big cities and Paris, and small towns or rural areas where many people feel invisible and ignored, or where public services are declining. It was quite symptomatic of that.' 'Now, it feels like it's very far away, but these divisions still exist, and it seemed like a good way to talk about them, especially since the Gilets Jaunes movement is now really part of French history. I think it's important to tackle issues like this,' Moll continued. The film marks Moll's follow up to 'The Night of the 12th' which charted a police investigation surrounding the gruesome murder of a young woman. The film struck a chord in France and won an impressive six prizes at the Cesar Awards, including best film, director and adapted screenplay for Moll and Gilles Marchand, as well as promising actor for Bastien Bouillon. Drawing a parallel between the two movies, Moll said 'The Night of the 12th' 'really made me want to continue my interest in police institutions and how they work.' 'The advantage of police investigations is that you can work on cases from the field, with all the tension and suspense, etc. and you can also slip in other themes,' said Moll. 'In 'The Night of the 12th, it was violence against women. Here, it's more about police violence during law enforcement operations, but through a police investigation conducted by the IGPN, the police watchdog. That's what interested me. I felt there was material for fiction in seeing police officers investigating other police officers.' Caroline Benjo, who produced both 'Case 137' and 'The Nights of the 12th,' with Carole Scotta at Haut et Court, said both movies are 'clearly restorative.' ''The Night of the 12th' was 'a very harsh film, even a little grim and very graphic, and yet it felt cathartic,' Benjo said. 'I feel that with Dominique, the way he invests in spaces (…) which are the grey areas. It's these grey areas, those of nuance and complexity, that we have completely abandoned, when in reality they are the ones we absolutely must reconnect with,' said the producer. 'Case 137' has been critically lauded, with Variety's review describing it as a 'starkly effective' and 'riveting police procedural,' and praising Drucker's 'superb' performance as a 'dogged inspector investigating an egregious case of riot police misconduct.' Before its premiere, 'Case 137' sparked some headlines after news broke that one of its supporting actors, Theo Navarro-Mussy, had been banned by the Cannes Film Festival organizers from walking the red carpet amid accusations of rape and sexual assault. 'Case 137' is represented internationally by of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
The Hindu
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Cannes 2025: Festival bans French actor from red carpet over sex assault allegations
The Cannes Film Festival has banned French actor Theo Navarro-Mussy from appearing on the red carpet for Thursday's premiere of French competition film Case 137 due to sexual assault allegations against him. Festival director Thierry Fremaux told Telerama magazine on Wednesday that he had decided, along with the film's producers, to exclude the actor because the courts had not issued a final ruling in the case. A joint complaint by three former partners accusing Navarro-Mussy of rape was dismissed by prosecutors last month for lack of sufficient evidence, according to his lawyer. The complainants, also actors, plan to file a new complaint, Telerama reported. Navarro-Mussy's lawyer, Marion Pouzet-Gagliardi, told Reuters that to date, there was no indication that any proceedings would continue, and that no new complaint had been formally recorded yet. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A festival spokesperson referred Reuters to Fremaux's Telerama interview when asked to confirm the red carpet ban, which is believed to be the first of its kind. Navarro-Mussy has a small role in the detective drama directed by Dominik Moll. The festival's director told Telerama that he was also waiting to find out more about a report concerning another film personality that had recently come to his attention. Beginning this year, Cannes requires producers to guarantee that films submitted respect the safety, integrity and dignity of all contributors. The festival has faced criticism in the past for not doing more to embrace the #MeToo movement that has exposed men accused of sexual harassment in fields including entertainment, politics and business. ALSO READ:Cannes 2025: Robert De Niro receives standing ovation, Palme d'Or from Leonardo DiCaprio Fremaux's decision comes in the same week that actor Gerard Depardieu was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in the highest-profile #MeToo case to come before judges in France. Depardieu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision.
