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The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 ($21,500) fine for actor Gérard Depardieu in his sexual assault trial this week.

Two women have accused the French acting legend (Cyrano de Bergerac, Green Card) of assaulting them on the set of French film The Green Shutters in 2021.

The sentencing request, issued on Thursday, comes after a contentious four-day hearing in Paris. There have been more than 20 public allegations made against Depardieu alleging sexually inappropriate behavior, but this is first time he has appeared in court.

Depardieu could be back later this year to stand trial in a separate case, involving rape allegations made by actress Charlotte Arnould, dating back to 2018.

The Green Shutters case concerns allegations made by a set dresser and a third assistant director who claim Depardieu groped them and made sexually-inappropriate comments. The set dresser, referred to only as Amélie in court,...

The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence with a three-year probationary period and a €20,000 fine for actor Gérard Depardieu following his sexual assault trial this week related to events on a 2021 film shoot.

He also asked that Depardieu undergo psychological treatment and be placed on France’s sex offenders list.

The requested sentence concluded a tumultuous four-day hearing in Paris, which marked Depardieu’s first time in court against a backdrop of at least 20 public allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior against him.

This week’s trial was related to accusations of sexual assault against the actor by a set dresser and a third assistant director, alleged to have taken place during the shoot of Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters in 2021.

Depardieu could stand trial a second time in the coming months in relation to rape allegations by actress Charlotte Arnould, dating back to 2018, following...

France’s #MeToo movement is back in the spotlight today (March 24) as actor Gerard Depardieu is expected at a Paris criminal court to face charges of sexual assault on a film set.

The now 76-year-old French actor is being tried for the sexual assault of two women – an assistant director and a set designer – during the 2021 film shoot for Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters (Les Volets Verts) released in 2022 that co-stars Anouk Grinberg and Fanny Ardant.

If he is found guilty, he could face five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. He is also facing other charges in separate cases.

In one of the most prominent #MeToo cases in the French film industry, director Christophe Ruggia has been found guilty of the sexual assault of Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel. Ruggia was given a two-year custodial sentence to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and an additional two-year suspended sentence.

The prosecution had requested a five-year prison sentence with a three-year suspended sentence. Ruggia’s lawyers called the ruling “unjustified” and said they would appeal.

Haenel first went public with her sexual assault allegation against Ruggia in 2019 in an interview with French investigative website Mediapart. She accused the director of sexually assault and molestation over the course of three years, starting when she was 12 and he was 36, and Ruggia cast her in his 2001 feature The Devils. Haenel played the lead role in the film, a story of a brother and sister who turn to incest,...

A French court has today (February 3) found French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia guilty of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor.

He has been sentenced to four years in prison, including two years under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and two years suspended.

The trial was the first to go to court of themajor #MeToo cases in the French film industry.Ruggia was accused of sexually assaulting Haenel starting when she was just 12 years old in the early 2000s after she was cast in his 2002 film The Devils.

The court also ordered the director to pay Haenel...

A French court has today (February 3) found French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia guilty of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor.

He has been sentenced to four years in prison, including two years under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and two years suspended.

The trial was the first to go to court of themajor #MeToo cases in the French film industry.Ruggia was accused of sexually assaulting Haenel starting when she was just 12 years old in the early 2000s after she was cast in his 2002 film The Devils. The court also ordered the director to pay Haenel...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia, who was accused in 2019 by “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Adele Haenel of having sexually abused her when she was a minor, was found guilty of sexual assault by a Paris court. He received a four-year sentence, including two years under house arrest and two years suspended.

In November 2019, Haenel alleged in an interview with investigative magazine Mediapart that she had been abused by Ruggia during and after the filming of the movie “Les Diables” (“The Devils”) in the early 2000s, when she was between 12 and 15 years old. She then filed a police complaint against the director.

Ruggia repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In December, the Paris prosecutor requested a five-year sentence, including two years under house arrest with electronic monitoring and three years suspended.

Haenel, who is now 35, was France’s first prominent star to accuse a filmmaker of sexual assault in the country’s #MeToo movement.

French director Christophe Ruggia has been sentenced to two years of house arrest after being found guilty of sexually abusing actress Adèle Haenel, according to multiple reports.

He will have an electronic bracelet for those two years, with an additional two years suspended. Ruggia denies any wrongdoing.

The “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress first accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment in 2019, years after they worked together on 2002’s “The Devils” when she was just a teenager. In her initial complaint, Haenel said the abuse — including “forced kisses” — occurred from the ages of 12 to 15. The director was 36 when it started.

“Christophe told me that he was in love with me and that the age difference was a curse for him, and that, unfortunately, I was an adult in a child’s body,” Haenel told investigators in France at the time.

“Now that the judiciary has opened an investigation, I...

French director Christophe Ruggia has been given a two-year custodial sentence under house arrest with an electronic bracelet with another two years suspended following a landmark trial in which he was found guilty of sexual assault accusations by actress Adèle Haenel.

The Paris prosecutor’s office had requested five years in prison, with three years suspended, following a turbulent two-day court hearing in early December.

The sentence comes six years after Haenel went public in 2019 with sexual assault accusations against Ruggia in an interview with investigative website Mediapart.

Haenel accused Ruggia of sexually assaulting and molesting her over the course of three years, beginning with the shoot of The Devils in 2001, when she was 12 and he was 36, and continuing into the promotional and festival tour.

Ruggia, who denied the accusations, suggested to the court that Haenel’s accusations were “revenge” because he had not made a second film with her,...

A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year sentence for French film director Christophe Ruggia who is accused of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor.

The sentence, including three years suspended and two under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, was requested after a two-day hearing, that wrapped in Paris’ criminal court late Tuesday (December 10).

The trial has drawn widespread attention for being among the first #MeToo cases in French cinema that has gone to court.

It comes five years after Haenel spoke out against Ruggia, accusing him of grooming and sexual abuse when she was 12 and...

Paris prosecutors have requested a five-year prison sentence for filmmaker Christophe Ruggia over sexual assault charges involving actor Adele Haenel when she was a minor, Le Monde reports. Haenel is the star of the Cannes prize-winning film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Bpm.”

The sentence, requested on Tuesday, includes two years under house arrest with electronic monitoring and three years suspended. Prosecutor Camille Poch said during the hearing that it must “remind us of the forbidden, who was the adult, who was the child, it must set the world straight.”

The case stems from incidents that allegedly occurred when Haenel was between 12 and 14 years old, following her role in Ruggia’s 2001 film “Les Diables” (“The Devils”). The prosecution outlined a pattern of “progressive hold” over Haenel, which included approximately 100 Saturday afternoons spent at Ruggia’s residence until February 2004.

Defense attorney Orly Rezlan pointed to a 2014 letter from Haenel to Ruggia,...

The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested five years in prison, with three years suspended, for French director Christophe Ruggia in relation to accusations by actress Adèle Haenel that he sexually assaulted her when she was a minor.

The sentence request was made on the final day of a dramatic two-day trial in Paris this week, some five years after Haenel went public in 2019 with accusations against Ruggia, accusing him of sexually assaulting her as a teenager after he cast her in his 2002 feature The Devils.

Ruggia is not expected to do jail time but will likely spend the two-year custodial part of the requested sentence under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, if the sentence is upheld. A final sentence will be announced on February 3.

The prosecutor also requested that Ruggia be placed on France’s national sex offender registry, be banned from seeking contact with Haenel and also compensate her.

The trial of French director Christophe Ruggia, who is accused of sexually assaulting Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, kicked off in Paris on Monday.

The two-day hearing comes five years after Haenel went public in 2019 with accusations against Ruggia in an interview with investigative website Mediapart, accusing him of sexually assaulting her as a teenager after he cast her in his 2002 feature The Devils.

She said Ruggia assaulted her over the course of three years, beginning with the shoot of the film in 2001, when she was 12 and he was 36, and continuing into the promotional and festival tour. Ruggia has denied the accusations.

Adèle Haenel supporters

Haenel arrived in court looking somber but determined. Female rights activists gathered outside, with placards bearing the slogan ‘Adele, On Te Croit’ (Adele We Believe you).

On taking to the stand for the first time, Ruggia...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has been ordered by a French magistrate to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor in the early 2000s.

The Paris trial date is set for December 9 and 10, according to French media reports. Ruggia has denied all charges and his lawyers have yet to comment publicly on the trial.

Haenel, now 35, filed a complaint against Ruggia in 2019 accusing him of “constant sexual harassment” when she was between 12 and 15 years old and he was in his 30s, which she says included “forced kisses on the neck” and unwanted touching.

Actress and director Judith Godrèche made an appeal at the French César Awards on Friday for a new era of truth around the issue of sexual abuse and harassment in France’s cinema world after decades of silence and denial.

“For some time now, voices have been unleashed, the idealized image of our fathers has been shattered, power almost seems to be in a state of turmoil, could it be possible for us to look at the truth in the eye?,” she said in scheduled address.

“To take on our responsibilities? To be actors, actresses of a world that is questioning itself?, “ she asked. “For some time now, I’ve been talking and talking, but I can’t hear you, or only a little. Where are you? What are you saying? A whisper. Half a word.”

Her appearance at the César ceremony comes three weeks after the actress filed an...

A decade ago, Gerard Depardieu played a character inspired by Dominique Strauss-Kahn — the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund who was accused of assaulting a hotel maid — in Abel Ferrara’s “Welcome to New York.” In an ironic twist, the iconic French actor has now become the poster boy for the country’s #MeToo movement, having been charged with rape and faced with over a dozen sexual assault allegations.

But the French remain divided over him due to his profile as a mascot of the country’s cinematic history. He’s starred in over 150 films, including classics such as Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” François Truffaut’s “Le Dernier Metro” and Bertrand Blier’s “Going Places.” However, the tide is starting to shift — while French President Emmanuel Macron refused to revoke his Legion of Honor, the Paris wax museum went ahead and removed his statue on Dec.

The assault allegation against “Jeanne du Barry” writer/director/star Maïwenn has become even more complex.

After Maïwenn admitted to attacking French journalist Edwy Plenel, the Mediapart magazine editor-in-chief is citing Maïwenn’s possible motive: retaliation for the publication reporting on her ex-husband Luc Besson’s sexual abuse allegations. “Léon, the Professional” director Besson was accused in 2018 of repeatedly raping Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy over the course of two years, as well as multiple other women. The case against Besson was dismissed in 2021 after an investigation.

Maïwenn was married to Besson in 1992; she was 16 years old when they wed. Besson knew Maïwenn since she was age 12, and the couple began dating when the actress was 15 years old. Maïwenn said during the 1994 DVD extras for controversial film “Léon, the Professional” that the central relationship was inspired by her and Besson’s love story. The couple divorced in 1997.

“We published what...

If you thought Johnny Depp starring in a film might be a lightning rod of controversy, imagine the movie’s director spitting on a journalist.

“Jeanne du Barry” will open the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, marking Depp’s return to the red carpet, following legal battles that have largely defined the actor for the past few years. Ahead of the film’s premiere, the director, French actor and filmmaker Maiwenn, admitted to assaulting a journalist by spitting on him.

“She’s outspokenly anti-#MeToo and she made a gesture to please her world, and that’s why she bragged about it on TV. We could see a sort of pride that echoed that world,” journalist Edwy Plenel tells Variety in his first interview since the spitting incident. Plenel was referring to Maiwenn’s comments published by Paris Match in 2020, saying “It’s crazy how many stupidities they say these days!

After one of France’s top actors, Adèle Haenel, announced she was quitting a French film industry that she denounced for “complacency toward sexual aggressors,” Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux rejected her criticisms while addressing members of the media Monday.

Haenel, star of the 2019 Cannes entry “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” last week published an open letter in the Telerama magazine in which the 34-year-old said Cannes and other pillars of the French film industry are “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs.”

Read More: Martin Scorsese Set To Stir Cannes Again, 47 Years After ‘Taxi Driver’

Fremaux strongly disagreed while speaking to journalists before the festival kicks off Tuesday with the premiere of Maïwenn’s historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Johnny Depp.

“No doubt for somewhat radical reasons, she had to make this comment about Cannes, which was obviously false,” said Fremaux.

In 2019, Haenel accused...

Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux is responding to French actress Adèle Haenel’s claims that the annual festival has supported “sexual aggressors” like director Roman Polanski and actor Gerard Depardieu.

Haenel, who publicly announced her retirement from acting in March 2022, penned an open letter last week slamming the Cannes Film Festival for protecting sexual abusers. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote. “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

She added that Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs” and claimed that the French industry effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement.

Now, Cannes festival director Fremaux defended the festival from Haenel’s “radical” and “false” comments.

“She’s very radical, but it’s an erroneous comment,” Fremaux said. “It’s misplaced. She didn’t think that when she came to...

Adèle Haenel, the French star of Cannes prize-winning film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” vanished from the film world in the aftermath of the 2020 Cesar Awards ceremony. That year, Roman Polanski won best director and Haenel, who was on the ground for her nomination with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” walked out of the ceremony in a burst of anger upon hearing Polanski’s name, shouting “Bravo pedophilia!”

Several months prior, Haenel had accused French director Christophe Ruggia of having sexually harassed her for years starting when she was just 12 years old, prompting the birth of France’s #MeToo movement. Since then, Haenel exited the movie biz to dedicate herself to political activism, as well as theater and dance with the artist Gisèle Vienne. She recently appeared on French TV to support the strike and protest against the country’s unpopular pension reform.

While some hoped she would...

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress Adèle Haenel is calling out the French film industry for supporting known sexual abusers.

Haenel wrote an op-ed letter for French publication Télérama in which she denounced the “general complacency” toward “sexual aggressors” like actor Gerard Depardieu, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women, and director Roman Polanski, who raped then-13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977.

“They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote (via The Hollywood Reporter). “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

Doubling down on her retirement from movies, she added that the French industry has effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement over the years, writing, “You have the money, the strength, and all the glory [but] you won’t have me as a spectator. I cancel you from my world.”

Haenel previously accused French...

French actress Adèle Haenel, the star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, has announced her retirement from the movie business, saying the complacency and indifference of the French industry to the #MeToo movement is behind her decision.

In a letter published on media news site Télérama on Tuesday, Haenel she wanted to use the public declaration of her retirement from the film business as a way to call out the “general complacency” within the French industry “vis-à-vis sexual aggressors.”

Despite several high-profile examples of sexual abuse and misconduct within the French film industry, many of which came to light in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Haenel says the powers that be have chosen to ignore and ostracize women who have come forward to sound the alarm. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” she writes in her Télérama letter, referencing three of the most prominent French film figures accused of abuse.

French actor-director Maiwenn, whose latest film “Jeanne du Barry” starring Johnny Depp is set to open the Cannes Film Festival, is being sued by Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart magazine for allegedly attacking him at a restaurant.

A police complaint was filed on March 7 by Plenel, accusing Maiween of aggression. Variety confirmed the filing with the Paris prosecutor’s office following local news reports. In the complaint, Plenel alleges that he was assaulted by Maiwenn in late February while eating at a restaurant in the posh seventh arrondissement of Paris.

Maiwenn, who was sitting by herself at a nearby table, allegedly came to his table and grabbed him by the hair before spitting in his face without saying a word, then stormed out of the venue, leaving Plenel “traumatized by the incident,” according to the news outlet Afp, which quoted the police complaint.

Variety has reached out to Maiwenn’s attorney for comment.

In 2021, the Cannes film festival programmed movies from an unprecedented number of women and people of color, more than in any other year. Director Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’Or for her film Titane, becoming only the second woman to do so. This win gave people hope that maybe change was coming from the white, male-dominated festival.

But with the initial reveal of the Cannes lineup last month, it appeared things had gone back to the way they usually were, with women and Poc content largely shut out. Subsequent additions to the slate included five films directed or co-directed by women in Competition for the first time. But is it enough? Change is happening slowly, but the years of exclusion have proven harmful to many filmmakers who exist on the margins, and few established voices seemed willing to speak up. That is until a new wave of women decided...

French director David Moreau has been accused of sexual assault by a crew member on his movie “King,” which wrapped filming on Oct. 9. The female crew member, whose name has not been disclosed, filed a police complaint in Montpellier, in the south of France.

The news was first reported by Le Parisien newspaper and the filing of the police complaint was confirmed to Variety by the producer of “King,” a big-budget family movie which is produced by Maneki Films, Full House and Pathé. A preliminary investigation into the claim will soon be launched by Montpellier’s prosecutors, according to Le Parisien. The complaint alleges that the sexual assault took place on Sept. 12 and 13 in Sète, in the south of France, outside the “King” shoot and working hours.

Moreau’s representative has not responded to request for comment.

The film producer told Le Parisien that she came to the set as...

France’s National Film Board (Cnc) has launched a workshop for producers who work in the film, TV and video games industry, along with other measures aimed at uncovering and preventing sexual misconduct during shoots and post-production.

The Cnc collaborated with feminist orgs 50/50 Future and the European Association Against Violence Towards Women in the Workplace, and consulted with industry professionals to draft the measures.

“This year has been disrupted by [the pandemic] and will continue to be for the months to come but it’s not the time to back track on issues that are as important and crucial,” said Dominique Boutonnat, president of the Cnc.

Boutonnat said the current health crisis has created some uncertainty for many workers within the industry who might fear losing their jobs. This could lead to situations where employees or freelancers won’t be inclined to speak out about abuse, in order to avoid compromising their livelihoods.

Anger over return of old guard to revamped general assembly.

A promised reform drive by France’s troubled Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques has gotten off to a rocky start after the body moved to allow historic members back into its revamped general assembly including disgraced director Roman Polanski.

The 4,313 members of the body, which oversees the prestigious national César awards, elected the new general assembly earlier this month. This assembly will now vote in a gender-balanced governing board on September 29 as well as male and female presidents who will work in tandem over a two-year period.

However it...

The Cesar Academy, which distributes France’s equivalent to the Oscars, has unveiled new rules aimed at ramping up diversity and parity within its board.

The new guidelines were put together with the help of a mediator appointed by France’s National Film Board (Cnc) following an industry consultation. Under those new rules, the Cesar Academy will have two presidents, a man and a woman.

The Association for the Promotion of Cinema (Apc), the organization that oversees the Cesar Academy, will be increased from 45 to 170 members who will have to be elected by the Academy’s 4,313 members. The idea is to have a wider, more representative pool of members who will be voted on by professionals and artists from every field of the industry. The election is expected to take place in September.

Previously, the members of the Apc did not have to be elected, they were part of the...

Berlin’s Carlo Chatrian and Venice’s Alberto Barbera have also been invited.

Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux, French actress and gender equality activist Adèle Haenel, and a number of the key cast and crew of Oscar-winning picture Parasite are among the some 400 international film industry professionals invited to join the Us’ Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on Tuesday June 30.

With 49% of the 819 invitees hailing from 68 countries outside of the Us, the latest round of invitees was one of the most international selections ever.

Frémaux is among a number of festival chiefs to be invited...

Red carpet rage, walkouts and black humour mark fractious 45th edition of French Oscars.

The French film industry’s attitude towards sexual abuse and gender equality was in the spotlight like never before as Roman Polanski was feted with best director for An Officer And A Spy (J’Accuse) at the César awards on Friday night.

The ceremony at the Salle Pleyel concert hall in central Paris was a fractious, politically-charged event.

It took place just days after César Academy president Alain Terzian and the entire board of the association overseeing the awards resigned amid criticism over a lack of transparency,...

In what felt like a statement against criticisms of the embittered French film academy, controversy magnet Roman Polanski won the Best Director prize at the 2020 César Awards in Paris on Friday for his Dreyfus Affair drama “An Officer and a Spy.” He beat out fellow nominees including Ladj Ly, whose “Les Misérables” ultimately won Best Film, and Céline Sciamma, whose wildly acclaimed “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” went home with just one award, for Best Cinematography. Polanski’s win did not sit well with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” star Adèle Haenel, who could be seen in the telecast walking out of the ceremony at the Salle Pleyel when the award was announced. Watch below.

Haenel has been an active voice in the #MeToo movement which, as she outlined in a recent New York Times interview, she believes has failed in France. That claim appeared to resonate at...

Updated, writethru: Ladj Ly’s Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize laureate Les Misérables was the big winner at Friday night’s 45th annual César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, including taking the top honor of Best Film. The night unfolded, however, under tumultuous conditions owing to controversy surrounding Roman Polanski, whose An Officer and a Spy was the leading nominee going in with 12 mentions.

The filmmaker was not in attendance, but his film won three prizes including Best Director — an occurrence that caused walkouts from the Salle Pleyel, which earlier in the evening had been the site of protests by feminist organizations.

Scroll down for full list of César winners.

Polanski on Thursday said he would not attend the local industry’s biggest night. “Activists are threatening me with a public lynching. Some have called for demonstrations, others are planning to make it a platform,” he said. “This...

As a contentious edition of France’s Cesar awards wrapped, Roman Polanski won best director prompting numerous walkouts such as nominee Adele Haenel, star of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”

Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables” won best picture as well as the people’s choice prize, best male newcomer (for Alexis Manenti) and best editing.

Neither Polanski nor the cast and crew of “An Officer And A Spy” (“J’accuse”) was on hand at the awards ceremony hosted at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on Friday. Polanski said on Thursday that he would skip the celebration to avoid being “lynched,” but that didn’t prevent a protest by more than 100 people that was staged in front the venue by the advocacy group Osez le Feminisme.

Since bowing at Cannes Film Festival where it won the jury prize, “Les Miserables” went on to win a Goya Award, and was nominated for...

Speculation swirls around Roman Polanski’s possible attendance of this week’s ceremony.

Veteran German-French producer Margaret Ménégoz has been appointed interim president of France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques which organises the national César awards. It follows the resignation of the whole board earlier this month amid mounting industry criticism of way the organisation was run.

Ménégoz’s official role is interim president of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (Apc), the not-for-profit body which oversees the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, which is also known as the César Academy. She was a board member...

The bombshell news about the resignation of the governing board of the Cesar Academy, which distributes France’s equivalent of the Oscars, was greeted with relief within the French film world on Friday.

On the heels of an industry-wide backlash, the 21-member board of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema – the organization overseeing the Cesar Academy – revealed on Thursday evening that it will resign following the Cesar Awards ceremony on Feb. 28.

Among those resigning is Alain Terzian, a French producer who presides over both the Cesar Academy and the Association for the Promotion of Cinema, as well as former Cannes president Gilles Jacob.

“Their resignation is going to give us the opportunity to rewrite the status of the Cesar’s, which appear to be completely outdated,” “Polisse” actor Marina Fois told the French radio France Info on Friday. Fois is one of 400 film figures who signed a petition calling...

Exclusive: Portrait Of A Lady On Fire star Adèle Haenel has signed with CAA. The multi-award winning French actress recently received a Best Actress César nomination for her role in Céline Sciamma’s Portrait, and previously took the prize for 2014’s Les Combattants (Love At First Fight).

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe and BAFTA this year, despite not being the official French submission to the Academy Awards. The drama releases in the U.S. via Neon on February 14.

Haenel’s other credits include last year’s Deerskin; 2017’s Bpm (which was France’s entry for the Oscars); the Dardenne brothers’ The Unknown Girl in 2016; 2013’s Suzanne; 2011’s House Of Tolerance from Bertrand Bonello; and Sciamma’s 2007 breakout Water Lillies. In total, she has been nominated for six César Awards. Along with the lead honor for Love At First Fight,...

The French version of the Oscars is sparking backlash for nominating disgraced director Roman Polanski‘s latest for a whopping 12 awards.

The Césars announced its nominees, with 86-year-old Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy leading the list, including best film and best director. His nominations come 43 years after the director fled the U.S. for France and has lived in exile ever since.

Polanski pleaded guilty to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in 1977 after 13-year-old Samantha Geimer accused him of getting her drunk and giving her part of a quaalude.

He served 42 days in jail due to a plea bargain,...

French feminists rail against César Academy for not taking moral position on Polanski.

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences and the country’s film industry came under fire on Wednesday after Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy topped the nominations list for the 45th edition of its César awards.

The period drama– about the infamous 19th century case of French-Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongly convicted for spying - garnered nominations in 12 categories, including best film and best director.

The film’s selection at Venice – where it won the grand jury prize – as well...

French feminists rail against César Academy for not taking moral position on Polanski.

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences and the country’s film industry came under fire on Wednesday after Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy topped the nominations list for the 45th edition of its César awards.

The period drama– about the infamous 19th century case of French-Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongly convicted for spying - earned nominations in 12 categories, including best film and best director.

The film’s selection at Venice – where it won the grand jury prize – as well...

Back in November of last year, acclaimed actress Adèle Haenel spoke out about alleged sexual misconduct and assault that she endured from the ages of 12 and 14 from director Christophe Ruggia. At the time, she said she was inspired by the Michael Jackson abuse documentary “Leaving Neverland” to share her story. Well, apparently the story struck enough of a chord to spark an investigation in France and resulted in an indictment against Ruggia.

Continue reading Director Christophe Ruggia Indicted For Sexual Aggression Stemming From Adèle Haenel’s Allegations at The Playlist.

French director Christophe Ruggia, who stands accused of sexually assaulting the actress Adele Haenel when she was a minor, was formally indicted by Paris prosecutors today.

Ruggia was placed in custody on Tuesday (January 14) and questioned by investigators. After he was held for the maximum of 48 hours, the director was today charged with “sexual assaults on a 15-year-old minor by a person having authority” after appearing in front of a judge, as reported by various French sources including Afp and Le Monde.

Back in November, in a bombshell investigation by Paris-based journal Mediapart, actress Haenel stated that Ruggia sexually harassed her from the age of 12 after being cast in his film The Devils. She initially said she would not pursue legal action as she believed “justice ignores” victims in her situation, but reversed this decision and filed an official police complaint later that month.

The 55-year-old filmmaker initially denied the...

French director Christophe Ruggia, who was accused in November by the actress Adele Haenel of having sexually harassed her from the age of 12, has been indicted on Thursday by French authorities after being held in custody for 48 hours. The information was confirmed to Variety by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Ruggia is being indicted on charges of “sexual aggression against a minor by a person of authority and sexual harassment,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told Variety. The charges stem from the accusations of Haenel who alleged that Ruggia, who directed her in her first film, the 2002 drama “The Devils,” repeatedly made sexual advances when she was between the ages of 12 and 15. Before she filed a police complaint, Haenel spoke to the French website Mediapart which published a investigative report on Nov. 4.

Following the bombshell publication, the Paris prosecutor launched an investigation into Ruggia who was then placed under police custody on Jan.

French director Christophe Ruggia, who was accused in November by the actress Adele Haenel of having sexually harassed her from the age of 12, has been placed in custody by French police on Tuesday, Variety has confirmed.

The Paris prosecutor’s office told Variety that Ruggia had been placed under custody as part of the investigation launched on Nov. 6 for “sexual aggression against a minor by a person of authority and sexual harassment.”

The investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor just days after the publication of an investigative report on French website Mediapart, in which Haenel alleged that Ruggia, who directed her in her first film, the 2002 drama “The Devils,” repeatedly made sexual advances when she was between the ages of 12 and 15.

She credited the release of the HBO/Channel 4 documentary “Leaving Neverland,” about late pop star Michael Jackson’s alleged abuse of two young fans, as the impetus...

French actress Adèle Haenel has accused filmmaker of molesting her when she was a teenager.

French director Christophe Ruggia was taken into police custody on Tuesday morning for questioning in relation to an investigation into allegations by actress Adèle Haenel that he molested her as a young teenager.

French media reported investigators from France’s central office for the repression of violence (Ocrvp) had detained Ruggia. Under French law, a person can detained for a maximum of 48 hours for questioning without charges.

Haenel, who recently co-starred in Celine Sciamma’s period drama Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, met Ruggia...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia, 55, was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexual harassment stemming from accusations made by actress Adèle Haenel.

French police said Ruggia was arrested as part of an investigation into "sexual aggression on a minor."

Haenel, now 31, has accused Ruggia of sexual harassment spanning several years and starting back when she was 12 years old and cast to star in the director's second film, The Devils, in 2002. Ruggia, who was 36 at the time, has denied all allegations.

The actress alleges Ruggia began harassing her as a young teenager when they ...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia, 55, was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexual harassment stemming from accusations made by actress Adèle Haenel.

French police said Ruggia was arrested as part of an investigation into "sexual aggression on a minor."

Haenel, now 31, has accused Ruggia of sexual harassment spanning several years and starting back when she was 12 years old and cast to star in the director's second film, The Devils, in 2002. Ruggia, who was 36 at the time, has denied all allegations.

The actress alleges Ruggia began harassing her as a young teenager when they ...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has been detained and questioned by police investigators over accusations made by actress Adele Haenel.

As reported in November, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire actress Haenel stated that The Devils director Ruggia sexually harassed her from the age of 12 after being cast in one of his films. She initially said she would not pursue legal action as she believed “justice ignores” victims in her situation, but reversed this decision and filed an official police complaint later that month.

Paris prosecutors opened an initial investigation last year, and this week they detained and questioned Ruggia on accusations of sexual assault and harassment of a minor by a person in authority, according to reports in Afp and French network Lci television.

Ruggia initially responded by denying any wrongdoing, but has since asked Haenel to forgive him for his conduct. He was expelled from French directors’ guild Srf in response to the allegation.

Following the recent accusations against the filmmakers Christophe Ruggia and Roman Polanski, France is having a third belated #metoo moment with the scandal surrounding Gabriel Matzneff, a French writer who’s been critically revered even though he’s bragged about having sex with teenagers for four decades.

Matzneff, now 83, is the author of “Under 16 Years Old,” among his many books promoting sex with minors. He just wrote a new book, “The Lover at the Arsenal,” published by the leading French publishing house Gallimard.

Gallimard has now pulled all of Matzneff’s books, including his latest, according to media reports.

The scandal erupted immediately after the publication on Jan. 2 of “The Consent,” a book written by Vanessa Springora, who recounts how she was manipulated by V., a powerful man in his 50s, when she met him at the age of 14 and got involved with him. She also recounts her disillusionment when...

Jordan Mintzer: It seems possible to say 2019 will go down as a watershed year for French cinema. Not necessarily for the movies made, although there were some pretty good ones, but for the fact that the #MeToo movement finally crossed the Atlantic and arrived on the shores of France. As they say here: "mieux tard que jamais."

The sea change happened after two incidents that occurred only a few days apart in early November: The first was the accusation, made via a long investigative article published by Mediapart, of sexual abuse committed by director Christophe Ruggia against actress Adèle ...