Two well-known French filmmakers, in police custody after being denounced for sexual violence by several actresses | Culture

French filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon have been in police custody since Monday after being accused of sexual violence by actresses including Judith Godrèche, AFP reported, citing sources close to the case.

Jacquot “will finally be able to speak before the courts”, said his lawyer Julia Minkowski, who criticised the “questionable” police arrest. For Marie Dosé, Doillon’s defence lawyer, “no legal criteria can justify this measure”, 36 years after the events reported by Godrèche. The lawyer insists that her client should have spoken to the authorities in freedom, given the antiquity of the events. The two lawyers denounce the “attacks on the presumption of innocence” of their clients and the media impact of these measures, according to the French press.

The interpreter Judith Godrèche, who is now 52 years old, accuses them of having raped her when she was a teenager. Jacquot himself had spoken in public about the relationship he had with the actress when he was 40 years old and she was barely 15. Godrèche broke his silence last February and denounced the director, winner of three César awards, the French equivalent of the Goya. , by Farewells to the QueenThe actress also pointed out Doillon, author, among other films, The 15 year old girl, for two episodes of abuse. After her, several other actresses have accused both directors of sexual violence.

Jacquot denied the accusations in an interview with the newspaper The World and justified himself by claiming that the age of sexual majority at the time of the reported events was 15 years old and that the relationship with the actress had been purely romantic.

Godrèche was one of the actresses who in 2017 reported an attempted rape by American producer Harvey Weinstein and thus helped start the Me Too movement.

(Breaking news. There will be an update soon)