The 49th César Awards ceremony devoted a large space on Friday to victims of sexual assault, in the midst of a wave of scandals taking place in the French cinematic community. Actress Judith Goodrich said in this context that she dreams of a “revolution.” It was also of symbolic significance that the award for best director was given to a woman, for the second time in the history of “Césars”, namely Justine Trier, for her tape “Anatomie d’une chute”, which received the largest number of awards during the ceremony by winning six of them, including Best Picture title, which provided it with new momentum that strengthened its position on the verge of the Oscars on March 10, and it is nominated in five of its categories.
The 45-year-old director, who last May became the third woman to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, said: “I would like to dedicate this César Award to all women, whether to those who succeed or to those who fail, to those who have been wounded and liberate themselves through speech, and to those who… They couldn’t do that.”
But the main attention this time was not focused on the awards or honors, as the speech of Judit Godrich, who became a prominent figure in the French “Me Too” campaign, stole the spotlight.
Amidst warm applause from the faces of the French film community accused of covering up sexual assaults for years, the actress appeared at the “Olympia” Theater in Paris to speak out against “the degree of impunity, denial, and privileges” that prevail in the seventh art sector.
She asked, “Why accept the use of this art that we love so much, this art that connects us, as a cover for the illegal trafficking of young women?”
The actress, who sued directors Benoît Jaco and Jacques Doyon, accusing them, which they deny, of sexually and physically assaulting her when she was a teenager, added, “Beware of young girls. They crash into the bottom of the swimming pool (…) and are injured, but they rise to the surface again,” and “they dream.” With a revolution.”
The contradiction between “Cesar” on Friday evening and what was witnessed in the 2020 edition, in which Roman Polanski, accused of rape, was given the best director award for the film “Jaccuse,” prompted actress Adele Enel to leave the party that day.
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The latter, who has stayed away from cinema since then, re-published a photo of the 2020 party on her social media accounts on Friday evening, without any comment.
The issue of sexual violence was raised through the opening words of the concert’s president, Valérie Lemercier, who said, “I will not leave the stage without saluting those who are disrupting the customs and traditions of a very ancient world, in which the bodies of some were implicitly in the behavior of the bodies of others.”
Equally symbolic was the Cesars Academy awarding its first award, designated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, to Adele Exarchopoulos for her film “Je verrai toujours vos visas,” in which she plays the role of an incest victim.
Before the concert, about 100 people demonstrated in front of the Olympia Theater, at the invitation of the artistic sectors branch of the General Labor Union, CJT Spectacle, in support of victims of sexual assault who exposed what they had been exposed to.
“Together, we can really help change things, and a truly better world can open up,” said actress Anna Mouglalis, who accused directors Philippe Garrel and Jacques Doyon of sexually assaulting her.
Before the celebration, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati also denounced, in an interview with “Le Film France” magazine, what she described as “collective blindness” that “continued for years” in the sector.
She said about Judith Goodrich’s case, “Creative freedom is complete, but the issue here is not about art, but rather about crimes targeting children.”
French cinema has recently witnessed a widespread uproar in this regard, as lawsuits have been brought against a number of its most prominent faces, including star Gerard Depardieu, who is accused of rape and sexual assault, and whom President Emmanuel Macron said at the end of 2023 that he “makes France proud.”
The scandals also affected the head of the National Film Center, Dominique Botona, who is on trial on charges of sexually assaulting his 21-year-old godson.
New calls were launched to expose sexual assaults, the most prominent of which was issued by actor Aurelien Wake, who called on the boys who were exposed to it to speak about the subject. Outside the cinema, Judit Goodrich said that she received more than two thousand testimonials in four days via the email address she designated for this purpose.
