Credits: GAllegre / Wikimedia Commons — CC0.
Actress Judith Godrèche, who has spoken out extensively against sexual violence in the media, has recently taken a central role in this fight. Her autobiographical novel published in 1995, Point de côté, which depicts a toxic relationship between a teenage girl and an older man, is being reissued electronically by Flammarion. This initiative follows her complaint against two renowned directors, Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, for assaults she says she suffered in her youth.
During the César ceremony, Godrèche challenged the film community about its silence regarding the "illegal trafficking of young girls," highlighting a lack of response, in her view, to these allegations. Her testimony before the Senate’s delegation on women’s rights shed light on the code of silence surrounding sexual violence, calling for collective action to end it.
She proposes the creation of a commission of inquiry into sexual violence in cinema and insists on the establishment of neutral points of contact to protect minors on sets. Godrèche also criticizes the reappointment of Dominique Boutonnat to the head of the CNC despite his being placed under formal investigation for sexual assault.
Following her actions, Judith Godrèche already embodies for some people, famous or not, the courage to break the silence and to fight for a film industry and a society free from abuses of power and sexual violence.