EXCLUSIVE:Judith Godrecheis burning down the house.
Her hope is that something better will emerge from the ashes.
The minimum age of consent in France is 15.
Judith Godrèche at the 49th César AwardsGetty Images
Judith Godreche in the The Disenchanted 1990.
First Run Features/Everett Collection
Godreches campaign isnt only targeted at individuals.
She also has institutions in her sights.
RIDICULE, Judith Godreche, Charles Berling, 1996, (c) Miramax/courtesy Everett CollectionMiramax/courtesy Everett Collection
The CNC declined to comment.
The U.S. release has yet to be dated.
Alma Struve stars as teenage Godreche in flashback screens, while Godreche plays her dramatized older self.
Her real-life daughter Tess Barthemely also co-stars as her characters daughter, who falls for her much-older dance teacher.
Godreches voice is now cutting through in an unprecedented manner.
Below is our interview with Godreche.
DEADLINE:Do you feel like this is a watershed moment for #MeToo in France?
JUDITH GODRECHE:I hope theres a change, but women are being still considered as objects.
I wont let go.
Im still accepting interviews because Im waiting to see change and for people to take action.
Why do you think France and the French cinema world resisted the issue for so long?
GODRECHE:I have thought about it a lot too.
I think there is this romanticized vision in France around how the artist needs to consume the muse.
He needs to passer a lacte(to get down to things).
I feel like its a post-New Wave thing.
Both the directors who I worked with, who abused me, were post-New Wave.
They were saying that their inspiration was the women they met.
When youre so young, and even when youre older, how do you know to say no?
They were both the age of my dad.
There was this sense of them being a father figure and of the authority that comes with that.
Its insane whats going on in France.
[CNC President Dominique Boutonnat was indicted in 2021 on charges of sexual assault against his 21-year-old godson.
He has denied the accusations.]
Cant you go to them?
They were like, The CNC?
Im not talking about one film, but a body of work.
Theres rape, incest…
DEADLINE:Has it become harder for Benoit Jacquot to secure public funding for his work in recent years?
Its extremely hard to get that.
Around 200 films apply each year and only 40 films get it.
When you go on their website, theyre also distributing childrens films.
I wasnt attracted to those men.
I was Little Red Riding Hood and BenoIt Jacquot was the wolf disguised as the grandmother.
I had no-one to talk to about it.
It came with a lot of loneliness.
I was the perfect target.
My parents were not together anymore.
I was a very, very lonely kid.
He came along and told me I was a miracle.
There was this sense of authority about him.
That he was going to protect me, give me a part in a movie, a home.
Its hard to navigate that.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie were also among actresses featured at the time.
GODRECHE:I was asked to maybe be a witness in the Weinstein trial.
I met with Joan Illuzzi, who prosecuted Harvey Weinstein in New York.
She interrogated me and then said that maybe she would ask me to come on the stand.
My reaction was like, Oh, my God, but do you know my childhood?
At the time, I felt that I wasnt going to be a good witness because of my childhood.
I felt very guilty for my childhood.
I felt that I was somehow responsible and for that I couldnt be a witness.
GODRECHE:Never in a million years.
Its been a puzzle and a long, long journey.
It was never my intention to say their names.
The show doesnt say their names.
Even when I started promoting the show at the Deauville American Film Festival, I didnt say their names.
That was my goal.
It was only much, much later with everything that happened that I said their names.
GODRECHE:A few people did mention Benoit Jacquot.
Our relationship is out there, its even on Wikipedia.
Before the show launched, I was trying to persuade every journalist not to mention any names.
You suggest that Birkin was upset by what happened but that she didnt intervene.How did that make you feel?
GODRECHE:Its complicated.
Many women are stuck for many different reasons.
She was in relationship with him.
She was very unhappy on set seeing what happened.
Im sure it was a process for her too.
I cant speak for her.
I only have empathy for her and compassion more than anything else, honestly.
Im sure she was also under his control.
DEADLINE:Was anyone on the cinema side at Arte involved in the Icon of French Cinema?
GODRECHE:No, the head of fiction Olivier Wotling commissioned the show.
DEADLINE:Were A24 fully aware of the potential implications of this show?
GODRECHE:A24 was very supportive.
They are extremely cultivated and love French cinema.
He was one of the good ones.
A24 knew exactly what it was about and where it was going.
I dont think I could have written this show if it wasnt for #MeToo.
Moving to America also helped, the fact I was away from my country and was anonymous again.
In L.A., no one knows me, even if I was doing some indie movies and writing.
Its been a very long journey.
Given your experiences, how did you do things differently?
GODRECHE:It was really important for me that my young actress had a reference like a third person.
I brought on a qualified psychologist and intimacy coach.
Thats what I wanted.
Were like this team, and youre alone and its very hard to navigate that.
You have to have one person thats there for you.
It cant be another crew member either.
It has to be someone from outside, someone qualified and independent.
DEADLINE:Were there any scenes you had to do differently because of Almas requests?
GODRECHE:Theres a scene where shes being yelled at by an actor.
It wasnt sexual, it was a male actor shouting at her.
She needed to work on that and feel more comfortable about it.
Thats not Almas body.
Its a body double, which was always the plan.
DEADLINE: You have launched an Instagram campaign aimed at victims of sexual abuses in wider French society.
Can you talk about that in more depth?
Im up to 4,000 replies by email and hundreds more on Instagram and direct messages.
DEADLINE:Are you going to respond to each and every one of them individually?
I feel a sense of responsibility for that.
What do you want to see happen to Jacquot and Doillon if they are found guilty of your accusations?
