Benoit Jacquot has appeared in more than 50 films and TV movies (File)
French actor Judith Godreche has filed a lawsuit against film director Benoit Jacquot, accusing him of raping her during a relationship that began when she was 14, her lawyer said Wednesday. Judith Godresh was 25 years older.
Benoit Jacquot, one of France’s most distinguished directors whose career has spanned 50 years, denied the accusations in a commentary for Le Monde, which also interviewed Judith Godray What (Judith Godreche).
Lawyer Laure Heinich told AFP that Judith Godreche, 51, made a formal complaint to the police Youth Protection Brigade (BPM) on Tuesday, accusing her of allegedly being raped before her death by a person in authority. adults.
Le Monde said the crime was punishable by 20 years in prison, although the statute of limitations in the case “may” have expired.
The news comes as the French film industry is reeling from claims that the arts world has been free of sexism and sexual abuse for decades.
Judith Godreche took to social media in January to accuse Benoit Jacquot, 77, of manipulating her into a romantic relationship as a vulnerable underage actor, saying art afforded abuse Covered.
The relationship began in the spring of 1986, when Judith Godreche was 14, and ended in the early 1990s.
Judith Godreche said she was “under his control” for six years, starring in two films he directed, 1988’s “Les Mendiants” and “The Beggars.” 1990’s “La Desenchantee.”
She decided to speak out after she discovered in a 2011 documentary that he boasted about their relationship as a “deviation” and that the movie provided “cover” for it.
“I threw up,” Judith Godreche told TMC television channel, seeing the “impunity” he enjoyed.
“When you’re 14, consent doesn’t exist,” she said.
Benoit Jacquot, a director of more than 50 films and TV movies, said he needed to “fall in love” with the actress to make the films.
He has worked with famous stars such as Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert, and as a teenager he also worked with Judith Godreche, Virginie Lado Virginie Ledoyen and Isild Le Besco.
In 2015, he described his job as “pushing actresses across the threshold.
“The best way to do it all is to be in the same bed.”
“No tenderness”
Judith Godreche has detailed her relationship with Benoit Jacquot to Le Monde, recounting the first time he had sex with her.
“He took my hand and took me upstairs and laid me down on his bed,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “I don’t remember being kissed, it was like there was no tenderness at all.”
Le Monde said the director talked about sadism with the girl in the film and played sadomasochistic sex games with her.
He also banned her from using any birth control and became particularly violent toward the end of their relationship, the newspaper said.
The newspaper quoted the actress as writing in a statement from the Juvenile Protection Brigade: “This story is similar to that of children who are kidnapped and raised without seeing the world and who have no sympathy for their abductors. There is malicious intent.”
“I want Benoit to agree to be my friend, not to own me, and I don’t want his body. I don’t want anything to do with his body.”
Benoit Jacques told Le Monde that he was “very much in love” with the young actress and that they were living together.
“I was in such bad shape that I didn’t want to make movies anymore, and she pulled me out of that darkness,” he said.
“Without any irony, I was fascinated by her for six years.”
The director told AFP in an interview on Wednesday that he did not want to comment further.
Judith Godreche was one of those who spoke out against American film producer Harvey Weinstein at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017.
Years later, the movement gained momentum in France and sparked a new debate about sexism and sexual violence in French cinema.
In December, a newly released video of star Gerard Depardieu making lewd comments sparked a nationwide uproar, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the actor had become the target of a “manhunt.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
