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Sexual violence fileSummoned on Monday July 1, the two filmmakers, notably accused by Judith Godrèche of sexual violence, refute the actress’ accusations.
Filmmaker Benoît Jacquot, accused of sexual violence by actress Judith Godrèche, is due to appear before the courts this Wednesday, July 3, after forty-eight hours in police custody, while Jacques Doillon, also accused by the actress, was released without charge, we learned on Tuesday. The two filmmakers, who contest the accusations, were summoned with their lawyers on Monday morning to the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM). Jacques Doillon’s lawyer, Marie Dosé, confirmed that her client had been released without charge. She did not wish to comment on this decision. Benoît Jacquot will therefore spend a second night in police custody before being presented to a judge with a view to a possible indictment this Wednesday morning, a source close to the case said.
The two filmmakers were questioned in an investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office opened for 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. The lawyers of Benoît Jacquot, Me Julia Minkowski, and Jacques Doillon denounced the attack on the presumption of innocence of their clients during their hearing.
Jacques Doillon “should have been heard in a free hearing given the age of the facts, their prescription acquired for more than two decades, and the inevitable dismissal without follow-up which will close this investigation”, stressed Me Dosé. Me Minkowski deplored “all of these dysfunctions of justice, thanks to an excessive media coverage which leads to unacceptable excesses”.
For lawyers, a “criticizable” police custody
For Me Marie Dosé, lawyer of Jacques Doillon who refutes all these accusations en bloc, “none of the legal criteria could justify this measure” of police custody “thirty-six years” after the facts denounced 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 without follow-up which will close this investigation”, had stressed the lawyer in a press release. Me Julia Minkowski denounced a “criticizable” police custody, also affirming that “a free hearing should have been decided”. The two lawyers denounced the “attacks on the presumption of innocence” of their clients and the media coverage of these measures.
On Monday morning, Judith Godrèche reacted via a photo posted on her Instagram account. In it, we see her sitting next to Benoît Jacquot. The publication is accompanied by a ten-line text: “I cry. My eyes are no longer eyes.” […] “I don’t know if I have the strength, but I will have it. I will have it, I will have it.” Judith Godrèche’s lawyer, Laure Heinich, did not wish to comment, recalling the secrecy of the investigation.
In early February, the 52-year-old actress sparked a new storm in the French #MeToo by successively accusing Benoît Jacquot of rape and then Jacques Doillon of sexual assault, and by filing a complaint in the process. The investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office concerns 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.
A relationship of “control” and “perversion”
Benoît Jacquot and the actress, then aged 14, began their relationship in the spring of 1986. They lived together, buying an apartment in Paris, until their separation in 1992. The actress spoke of a relationship of “control” and “perversion” with the filmmaker who was 25 years her senior. Regarding Doillon, the actress accuses the filmmaker of “putting his fingers in her panties” during tests for a film released in 1989. She was 15 at the time and in a relationship with Benoît Jacquot.
Two other actresses have filed a complaint against Benoît Jacquot: Julia Roy, 42 years his junior, for sexual assault in a “context of violence and moral constraint that lasted several years,” according to a source close to the case. Isild Le Besco also filed a complaint at the end of May for rape of a minor over the age of 15 and rape, allegedly committed between 1998 and 2007. The latter also indicated that she had to endure Jacques Doillon’s advances during work sessions, while actress Anna Mouglalis accused the filmmaker of forcibly kissing her at his home in 2011.
Parliamentary inquiry stopped dead in its tracks
This new wave of denunciations in the French #MeToo has set French cinema in turmoil since the beginning of the year and thus shaken the Césars ceremony, but also the Cannes Film Festival. A commission of inquiry into sexual violence in cinema, audiovisual, live performance, fashion and advertising had begun in May but was stopped dead after the dissolution of the National Assembly in early June.
The accusations, however, do not stop: just Friday, Dominique Boutonnat, one of the most powerful men in the profession, left the head of the National Center of Cinema (CNC) after his conviction for sexual assault. As for Gérard Depardieu, he is to be tried in October in Paris for sexual assault on two women, and risks a trial for rape of a third.
Updated Tuesday, July 2 at 10:45 a.m. with the continuation of police custody and more details; at 9:20 p.m. with the release of Doillon and the presentation of Jacquot to a judge.