Filmmaker Jacques Doillon, the target of rape accusations, was questioned at length this Friday, December 6, 2024 by investigating judges and was finally placed under the status of assisted witness, in a case that caused an explosion in French cinema.
“In some cases, questions around the notion of consent can and must be asked. But that is not the case here”, declared his lawyer Marie Dosé, at the end of the interrogation.
“There is no serious or consistent evidence against Jacques Doillon in this case, and the exculpatory evidence is unequivocal. We have provided correspondence, emails, which highlight the lies of the civil party”, she added.
The investigation into this figure of art house cinema was opened after a complaint of rape by actress Judith Godrèche, followed by complaints from two other women and a non-trans person binary.
Jacques Doillon had been taken into custody at the Brigade for the Protection of Minors in early July, at the same time as another filmmaker implicated by Judith Godrèche, Benoît Jacquot.
While the latter was indicted for the rape of actresses Julia Roy in 2013 and Isild le Besco between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Doillon had his custody lifted “for medical reasons”.
Jacques Doillon was therefore summoned on Friday to be questioned for the purposes of an indictment, but he was ultimately placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness, indicated the Paris prosecutor's office.
“Media fabrication of a guilty man”
At the heart of the interrogation: the accusations made by Joe Rohanne, a non-binary trans person, who filed a complaint for three rapes, assault and battery and psychological violence. She recounted these facts, from 2009 to 2012, in France and Belgium, to the newspaper Le Monde.
“The rush of some journalists to expose and detail complaints in the media without checking anything, and this for months, poses a real problem in a democracy”, was indignant Me Marie Dosé.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“We should all question ourselves about this rush. Here, it is not justice that does not listen to the victims, but the media factory of a guilty person who had to wait 10 months before finally being heard”, she insisted.
Mr. Doillon and Joe Rohanne had also been confronted in July, in front of the police.
Two women had also filed complaints for acts that were subject to a statute of limitations: Hélène M. had accused the filmmaker of rape in Paris in 1995, when she was 16, while Aurélie Le Roc'h had accused him of attempted rape in the summer of 1998 at Mr. Doillon's home in the Paris region.
Judith Godrèche, spearhead of #MeToo
The acts described by actress Judith Godrèche were also not included in the scope of accusations subject to potential prosecution, due to the statute of limitations.
The actress became a spearhead of the #MeToo movement in France after her accusations, triggering in particular the opening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the cinema and audiovisual sector.
She accuses Mr. Doillon in particular of having “put his fingers in her pants” during tests for the film “The 15-year-old girl” released in 1989. She was 15 at the time and was with Benoît Jacquot.
“I never had an intimate relationship with Judith Godrèche. I was never attracted to her”, Jacques Doillon replied in April.
“Judith Godrèche opened the show and made me her scapegoat. The other accusations followed”, he said, denouncing a “pack effect”.
Jacques Doillon filed a defamation complaint against Ms. Godrèche, specifically for an Instagram post on February 21 in which she accused him of “sleeping” with “children”.
Ruggia and Depardieu to be tried soon
In the world of cinema, other cases targeting figures in this industry will soon be tried: director Christophe Ruggia appears Monday and Tuesday before the Paris Criminal Court for sexual assault on Adèle Haenel when she was a young teenager.
Gérard Depardieu is to be tried in Paris on March 24 and 25, 2025 for sexual assault.
These cases, like that of producer Luc Besson, which was ultimately dismissed, or Director Roman Polanski, accused by several women of rape and who was convicted in the United States for “illegal sexual relations” with a 13-year-old minor, have highlighted the extent of sexual violence targeting women in the film industry.