Although the director of the Cannes Film Festival has brushed aside allegations of promoting filmmakers accused of violence, the films selected for this 76th edition have something to question. in addition to Joan of Barry of Maïwenn which marks a triumphant return of Johnny Depp as king on the big screen, the presence of another film, also signed by a French director, has something to question… or turn upside down.
AND THE Feedbackby Caterina Corsini. We explain why she does it dispute.
Withdrawn, then reinstated in the selection
This Wednesday May 17 marks the presentation on the Croisette of Feedback, twelfth film by the French Catherine Corsini. The feature film appears in the highly coveted short list of the 21 films in the running to win the Palme d’Or. Set in Corsica, the film features two characters from Girlsimmersed for a summer on the Island of Beauty, where they will make romantic encounters and live new experiences.
Despite a pitch apparently light skins a film about a chaotic journeyto weigh on very heavy suspicions.
The film was in fact withdrawn from the competition, before finally being reinstated despite the doubts that continued to hover over many poor shooting conditions that would have put underage actresses at risk above all. On April 24, we read in an article by WorldThat The return it had been so “left aside, following the denunciation of irregularities and acts of harassment on the set” before being once again in the running for the Palme d’Or “after an investigation (by) Thierry Frémaux’s team”.
Anonymous allegations
It all started in the Catherine Corsini affair anonymous letters sent to various film institutions, festivals, then broadcast by the press. These are methods of rough workof a authoritarian and aggressive behavior of the director and cases of sexual contacts against young underage women on set. A young actress would be the victim of a stuntman who would put them at hand on buttockswhile another actress would have been fired from the project for reporting similar factsalthough the team claims an artistic choice.
Currently, no complaint was filedalthough a report it was done to the prosecutor ea investigation conducted by the Central Committee on Health and Safety of Film Production Working Conditions.
“Young people who aren’t punk enough anymore” and “straddling principles or timetables »
Catherine Corsini and her producer Elisabeth Perez have denied these allegations, calling them out “defamatory », while revealing in the columns of Parisian existence “Tension on set, like on all sets (…) ». The director went even further in an interview with Morning runwhere he stated the fact of “feverish activity” his team, despite the laws that frame a movie set :
“I find that the new generation no longer has the same energy, the same desire as the ‘elders’ I used to work with. Sure, I’m demanding on a set, with my actors as well as my crew. I’m here to shake them up. I find that young people are no longer ‘punk’ enough, but rather leapfrog principles or timetables. When you choose to work on an auteur film, it’s a luxury and above all an effort. We have to believe it and not give up! »
The director allegedly forgot to declare a sex scene with a minor to the CNC
Among the problematic facts surrounding Catherine Corsini’s film, one was particularly expensive to produce. Indeed, the sum of 680,000 euros was withdrawn from the film CNC assistance, a rare measure. For good reason: the manufacturer has not declared to the institution the presence of a sex scene involving a minor aged 15 years at the time of filming, which constitutes a violation of labor law.
Contacted by The Parisianthe manufacturer explained that they have “made an administrative error by not declaring the intimacy scene »ensuring the scene had been “rewritten from an early version e added during filming ».
Actress Esther Gohourou also took the floor to deny these allegations, saying she wants to “finish this story”. She said she and her partner, Harold Orsini, who was 17 during filming, he refused to shoot the sequence with stunt doubles and an intimacy coach.
“We knew what we were going to shoot, that we were only going to see faces and that we weren’t supposed to touch each other in real life. And that’s what happened. Some people called the high school social worker to say things that had nothing to do with what happened. Harold is fine and I’m fine. »
“A devastating signal sent to victims of gender-based and sexual violence »
Despite these statements by the actress, the debates surrounding the film’s presence in Cannes are no less appeased.
In an official press release, the 50/50 collective working for equality, safety and inclusion in cinema declared themselves “dismay” by the presence of the film in the Cannes selection.
The group complains “a devastating signal sent to victims of gender-based and sexual violence » and sees in this choice Thierry Frémaux
It is «the sign that the Cannes Film Festival, in 2023, it has not undergone a sufficient transformation to take into consideration the theme of moral, sexist and sexual violence. »
Finally, the collective brought its own support to team members and invited them to do so witness freely:
“The 50/50 Collective expresses its full support for the film’s entire team of technicians and actors, and is ready to collect their testimonies forward them to the competent authorities. We measure how much it can be difficult to speak in such a context. »
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
