Jacques Doillon comes out of silence and responds to the accusations in the wake of Judith Godrèche’s speeches. The actress accuses the director and screenwriter of sexual assault when she was only 15 years old.
“He decided to explain his version of the facts. “Because for two months, I have heard ignominies about me and no one saw fit to listen to what I had to say.””
The Parisian grants a long interview to Jacques Doillon, 80 years old, director notably of Ponette, La Fille de 15 ans and CE2, targeted by accusations for two months, notably from Judith Godrèche, Isild Le Besco, and even Anna Mouglalis. This is his very first speech. Until now his lawyer had spoken via AFP, as well as the producer of his latest film (still unreleased in theaters), CE2, which was initially due to be released at the end of March.
For the record, Jacques Doillon decided to file a defamation complaint against Judith Godrèche. The latter in fact shared, on February 21 on Instagram, an article, accompanied by the following mention: “In 2022, this newspaper writes that Doillon’s specialty is filming with children. A sentence is missing: Who does he sleep with “… “This accusation goes beyond all limits, affirms Jacques Doillon. It is truly infamous.”, he denounces in the columns of Le Parisien.
A pack effect
He returns to the various accusations, and as the newspaper specifies, “papers in hand – he prepared for the interview – the director defends himself point by point“.
He denounces in particular a “pack effect”: “Judith Godrèche opened the ball and made me her scapegoat. The other accusations followed. It seems that the pack effect described in psychology applies here perfectly. If I were the horrible man that Judith Godrèche says I am, her call for witnesses should have generated many more testimonies. In fifty years of career, I have met several hundred actors and actresses for tests. Let’s go and interview the actors who had important roles in my films!“
I was not a stalker
He also states: “I never promised a role to anyone nor took advantage of my position as director to obtain sexual favors, asserts Doillon. In 35 films, it happened once or twice to me to have romances with actresses, but I was not a stalker.“
The release of the CE2 film blocked until further notice
For the record, the next feature film Jacques Doillon, CE2, scheduled for release on March 27, has been postponed to a later date. The 79-year-old director is currently in legal turmoil after a complaint from actress Judith Godrèche for sexual assault.
The filmmaker denies the facts and also filed a complaint against the actress for defamation.
Initially, producer Bruno Pésery maintained the release of the film, against the advice of the main actors Nora Hamzawi and Alexis Manenti. The latter dissociated themselves from this decision.
“When we decided to maintain this date, we hoped that a distinction would be made between the facts alleged against Jacques Doillon which date back 40 years, and a film which is the fruit of the work of a team, a large part of which does not was not born 40 years ago. We were wrong. Today it seems neither possible nor desirable to maintain this release date.”declared Bruno Pésery, quoted by Le Film Français.
“Now is not the right time”
“The time is no longer right, but a theatrical release cannot be called into question. A film is not the work of a single author, but rather a collective work. Everything cannot disappear because of of the director’s indictment”continues the producer.
“The release of Jacques Doillon’s film in which I starred four years ago is maintained. This decision constitutes a contempt for the words of women. What is happening in the world of cinema, and which I hope extends to other environments, is essential and important. It is the thing to support as a priority today”declared Nora Hamzawi on Instagram.
Bruno Pésery responded to the actress: “The choice to maintain the release date did not demonstrate contempt for the words of women, as we had said. It was a question of respecting the work of a team to which Nora belonged. And when she wants what happens in cinema to extend to other environments, she forgets the subject of CE2, bullying in schools, awareness of which is very important if we want to live in a less tolerant society against attacks of all kinds”explained the producer.
“A difficult current context”
“I come from exploitation and cinephilia. Many exhibitors questioned the possibility of releasing the film. I do not believe that they expressed a desire for censorship. They are concerned about the current context making it difficult to exhibit a film. The work of the exhibitor is essential in offering it to the public. They must be able to do so without fear of having their programming choices challenged.”
“We could not consider things only from our point of view, our decision to postpone takes into account these realities and the concern to protect the film itself. At no time is it a question of turning away or minimize the accusations made against Jacques Doillon, but it is very important that we quickly return to the principles of law, because only the judicial institution offers guarantees to both parties. We cannot treat a person who is the subject of ‘a complaint or an indictment, like a convicted person’concluded Bruno Pésery.
As of now, CE2 does not have a new release date announced.