After a often heated six-month hearing, a special committee of the French Parliament, tasked with investigating sexual assaults within the film and cultural industry, released its findings on Wednesday (April 9).
While about 85 hearings have been followed by over 118 hours of discussion with 350 experts, as well as hundreds of testimonials received since November, the 313-page report urges fundamental changes in the film industry, including a ban on-screen sexualization of minors and ban on stricter regulations on the casting process and comprehensive scenes on the set.
In October, the agency voted unanimously to set up a committee, chaired by economist and politician Sandrine Rousseau. The initiative was led by actress/filmmaker Judith Godores, who became a key figure in the French #MeToo movement.
The committee subsequently summoned figures from major industry figures, including Cannes Film Festival president Iris Noblok and General Thierry Fulmaux, producers Hugo Serignac, Dimitri Lassam, François Krauss, Olivier Delvos, President of Patie Films, Aldavan Safaye, Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lerté Beigner, Juras, Juras, Juras, Juras, Aldavan Safaye, and President of Part Films Films. Some testimonies have been made public, while others have been held closed doors.
“Moral, sexist and sexual violence in the cultural sector is systematic, endemic and enduring,” he reads the conclusions from Rousseau in a report that blasted French industry as “a true machine for shattering talent.”
The report added: “No one can say they didn’t know. No one can refuse to move forward and take action. Turning blind eyes is equivalent to accomplice.”
Addressing the media after submitting the report to the Diet, Rousseau mentioned to Cannes: “This festival must be a place of change in this mentality, where we are loud and clear, in facilities, on the glittering red carpet, on the microphones and podiums, all of us, all of us, all of us, all of us, all of us, all of our levels, all of us, all of our levels, to change this, all of us.
The report shows that the most well-known French industry is facing criminal charges in the wake of the sexual assault trial of actor Gerald Despardieu last month.
Godlech, following the report’s publication, told local media that the conclusion was “impressive and scary,” but added that he “is not surprised because he didn’t expect anything better.”
(TagStoTRASSLATE) France
