French #MeToo icon to screen short film in Cannes
PARIS—A short film centering on survivors of sexual abuse directed by Judith Godreche, a key figure in France’s #MeToo movement, is set to screen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday.
The film titled “Moi Aussi” (“Me Too” in French) will be shown on May 15, the festival wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Godreche spoke up earlier in the year, accusing directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager, allegations both have denied.
‘Sadly universal’
She has since made powerful speeches at the French equivalent of the Oscars and in Parliament, urging an end to sexual abuse in what she described as an “incestuous” French film industry. The 52-year-old actor and director’s 17-minute film to be shown in Cannes “highlights the stories of victims of sexual violence,” the festival said. “These individual experiences add to her own, underscoring their sadly universal nature.”
After speaking up on Instagram, Godreche shared an email address to which people who wanted to write could send their stories.
“Suddenly, before me was a crowd of victims, a reality that also represented France, so many stories from all social backgrounds and generations,” she said in a statement to Cannes. “Then, the question was, what was I going to do with them? What do you do when you’re overwhelmed by what you hear, by the sheer volume of testimonies?”
Last week, French parliament agreed to create a commission of inquiry to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in cinema and other cultural sectors.
Godreche had requested such a probe when she spoke to its upper house in February. —AFP
