Cannes #MeToo: Fest Kicks Off Amid Starry Petition Calling For New Sexual Crimes Law & Allegations Against Veteran ‘The Pianist’ Producer But No Bombshell Exposé

Melanie Goodfellow
·3 min read

The Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with expectations that the big theme of this 77th edition will be #MeToo, even if rumors of an imminent bombshell exposé involving 10 prominent cinema figures were quashed overnight.

France’s #MeToo wave, sparked by actress and filmmaker Judith Godrèche’s decision to speak up about sexual abuse she says she suffered as a teenager and her subsequent campaign to end what she calls a culture of silence in the French film world, will be omnipresent.

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Godrèche’s actions have encouraged thousands of sexual abuse victims across all walks of life to speak up about their experiences.

The actress and filmmaker will be in Cannes for the world premiere on Wednesday evening of her resulting short film Moi Aussi, gathering 1,000 people who got in touch with her via social media channels to tell their stories.

However, frenzied media speculation that a #MeToo exposé naming 10 prominent film professionals was due to drop during Cannes dissipated overnight following a tough-talking rebuttal by investigative website Mediapart, which many local media outlets has cited as the expected source of the report.

Calling “the media show” around the rumors “pathetic”, the site explained that it would never publish a list.

“When we reveal facts about gender-based and sexual violence, as with all the topics of general public interest that we cover, we publish ‘investigations’ based on cross-checked information,” it wrote in a piece addressing the rumors.

“These often take several months, at least several weeks. Because the time for cross-checking information is incompressible, as is the process of giving the right to reply (which consists of questioning the people or institutions involved).

The Mediapart statement does not mean that #MeToo allegations will not emerge over the course of the festival.

On Monday, French women’s magazine Elle published an investigation into veteran award-winning producer and Cannes habitué Alain Sarde, detailing accusations dating back to the 1990s against him of rape, sexual assault and harassment by nine women, three of whom revealed their identities.

Sarde, whose more than 180 credits include David Lynch’s Oscar-nominated Mulholland Drive, Roman Polanski’s Oscar and Palme d’Or winning The Pianist and Mike Leigh’s Oscar-nominated Vera Drake, has denied the allegations.

In another development, around 100 personalities from the world of culture and entertainment – including actresses Godrèche and Gérard Depardieu-accuser Charlotte Arnould as well as Isabelle Adjani, Charlotte Arnould, Emmanuelle Béart, Juliette Binoche, Emma de Caunes and Isild Le Besco  – published an open letter on the site of Le Monde on Tuesday calling for reforms to French laws around sexual crimes and the legal definition of consent.

“We come together to demand a comprehensive law against sexual and gender-based violence, ambitious and equipped with resources. Because, despite the courage of the victims, impunity is growing. It is unacceptable that the rate of dismissal of complaints for sexual violence has reached the crazy figure of 94% in 2022.,” read the letter.

The signatories said the proposed new law should clarify the definition of “rape” and “consent” and  introduce that of “incest”, suggesting that such a move would change the outcomes of many cases.

Quizzed on her thoughts about France’s #MeToo wave at the opening day jury press conference, jury president Greta Gerwig welcomed the developments.

“I think people in the community of movies telling their stories and changing things for the better is only good,” said the Barbie filmmaker. “I’ve seen substantial changes in the American film community; I think it’s important to expand the conversation.”

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