INVESTIGATION
Vote for or against Roman Polanski? Pending the Cesar ceremony which will take place on February 28, the question divides the world of French cinema. While the 4,300 members of the Academy can start voting on Monday on the internet, the controversy continues to swell, after the nomination of the film J'accuse in twelve categories, despite the accusations of rape brought by several women against the director.
>> Watch Matthieu Belliard's morning show in replay and in podcast here
The first to vote for Roman Polanski are the members of the J'accuse team. It's not a surprise, it always happens like that. The teams of a film vote for their stable. This is called a "corporate" vote. Then there is the vast majority of the cinema community, who vote in a professional and honest manner, for the artistic or technical qualities of a film, or for those they simply liked. "The #Metoo debates, etc ..., it goes completely over the heads of many voters," said one of them to Europe 1.
"I don't want to see him go up on the stage"
Among them, Paul, who is an author, admits having voted for Louis Garrel, who plays captain Alfred Dreyfus, in the best supporting male role category. "That does not pose a problem to me, in the sense that I think that at one point, it is not because Louis Garrel is excellent, but that the film is directed by Polanski, that we must put all the film crew ", he explains to the microphone of Europe 1. But, he specifies," I did not vote for Roman Polanski. I do not want to see him go up on the stage of the Césars and win an award.
For Paul, boycotting the film would therefore amount to boycotting the entire team. This is also the position of Xavier Beauvois, the director of the film Des hommes et des dieux . According to him, there is the film on one side, and Polanski on the other. Because, he admits, "with the accumulation of accusations against him ... it's still delicate" to vote for the Franco-Polish as best director.
Some unconditional supporters like Bertrand Tavernier
The filmmaker nevertheless retains unconditional support, like Bertrand Tavernier, who intends to vote for J'accuse in all categories, including that of "best director".
Weakened by this controversy, the César evening promises to be complicated. The management of the Academy is currently making phone calls to find volunteers to present a statuette on D-Day in the twelve categories where J'accuse is named. But the candidates do not rush. Last week, Roman Polanski received the award for staging at the Lumières Prize of international criticism. While usually an actor and a journalist come to present each award, no actor responded.