- Saturday, around quarter past midnight, Adèle Haenel left the Salle Pleyel where the 45th edition of the Césars was taking place.
- The actress was outraged that the César for best achievement was awarded to Roman Polanski.
- In recent months, Adèle Haenel had taken a stand against the honors granted to Roman Polanski.
"To distinguish Polanski is to spit in the face of all the victims," said Adèle Haenel in an interview with the New York Times , published on Monday. She added, "It means," It's not that bad to rape women. " ".
So, in perfect consistency with these declarations, when, shortly after midnight, on the night of Friday to Saturday, the César for best achievement was awarded to Roman Polanski, she rose from her seat. Then she left the Salle Pleyel where the 45th edition of the ceremony was supposed to celebrate French cinema. Before disappearing from the field of cameras, she cried out in indignation: "Shame! ". Several other people, including Céline Sciamma, director of Portrait of the young girl on fire , followed her.
At the announcement of the César for Best Director for Roman Polanski ("J'accuse"), Adèle Haenel leaves the room.
The best of # César2020> https://t.co/ipnVwouBeV pic.twitter.com/7xa0CTbU3H
A few hours earlier, on the red carpet, Adèle Haenel was a bit tense, but smiling. At the Canal + microphone, she declared: "It is important that we are there. We are a little tense. But happy to represent our cinema and our ideas. Surrounded by the Portrait of the Burning Girl team , the actress stressed the importance of "showing the vitality of [their] world view, saying that it is political, inventive and loving." Let it make room for people. "
Two trophies intended directly for Roman Polanski
The majority of voters of the Academy of Caesar were not sensitive to this point of view. Named eight times, Portrait of the young girl on fire only leaves with one trophy, that of the best photo, attributed to Claire Mathon. However, despite the controversy, J'accuse by Roman Polanski leaves with three statuettes. Two of them, that of adaptation and that of production, go directly to the filmmaker.
Adèle Haenel, with the Portrait of the young girl on fire team: "It is important that we are here."
The best of # César2020> https://t.co/ipnVwouBeV pic.twitter.com/aELRU4HZrp
Unless you are in bad faith, it is impossible not to see the symbolic stake surrounding this 45th Cesar ceremony. It is impossible to ignore that Roman Polanski is the subject of several rape charges and that he is still being sued by the American justice system for illegal sexual relations with a minor. Impossible to pretend that Adèle Haenel had not witnessed, this fall, the "touching" and the "harassment" that director Christophe Ruggia would have subjected her when she was between 12 and 15 years old. Impossible, yet, to pretend that these two personalities did not embody anything other than their professional activities, let alone in the post-# MeToo era.
The Minister of Culture Franck Riester, had expressly expressed it, Friday morning: to award Roman Polanski "would be a bad symbol compared to the necessary awareness that we must all have in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence".
The call to debate
Comments in line with those made by Adèle Haenel last November at the La Roche-sur-Yon Festival (Vendée). The actress, guest of honor at the event, had spontaneously spoken during a meeting with the public. She said she was "a little upset" to see that J'accuse appeared in the programming. "I think that in the current context, it would not be bad to frame this film with a debate on" What is the difference between man and artist? ", As well as on violence against women, she suggested. We are in a structure where we are all more or less informed about what the culture of rape means. We can talk about it structurally and at least open the debate so that it changes. "
She had been heard. A few days later a debate was organized. Adèle Haenel had read an extract from The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit on the microphone. “Who is heard and who is not defined defines the status quo. Those who embody it, most of the time at the cost of extraordinary silence for themselves, approach the center; those who embody what is not heard or those who attack the beneficiaries of this silence are pushed to the margins. By redefining the voices that matter, we are redefining our society and its values. "
Adèle Haenel became a “voice that counts” two weeks later by telling Mediapart about the violence suffered during her adolescence. The coronation of Roman Polanski undoubtedly appeared, in his eyes, like a will of the voters of the Academy of the Caesar to remain in the status quo. What happened during these César 2020 should not fail to agitate in the more or less long term the small world of French cinema, which may be experiencing its Battle of Hernani.
Culture
Medal winners, sketches and unease Polanski ... It was the 45th edition of César
Culture
From #MeToo to Mediapart, how Adèle Haenel spoke
- Cinema
- Caesar 2020
- Culture
- Roman Polanski
- Adele Haenel