“Denial, insularity.” Having long campaigned for the removal of the president of the CNC, actress Judith Godrèche accused the government on Friday of having supported “until the verdict” Dominique Boutonnat, who has just been sentenced to three years in prison, one of which is firm, for sexual assault on his nephew, by the Nanterre criminal court (Hauts-de-Seine). The powerful head of the institution, aged 54, announced in the wake of leaving his post, and indicated that he intended to appeal, reaffirming his “innocence”.
When the verdict was announced, Judith Godrèche, who had asked the Senate in February for the CNC boss to step down, criticized Emmanuel Macron on her Instagram account for having “reappointed” Dominique Boutonnat after “the complaint from his godson”, aged 19 at the time of the facts, who accused the fifty-year-old of having sexually assaulted him in August 2020. And this, “despite letters from unions, collectives, associations”, he said. – she recalled, including the 50/50 Collective which works for parity, equality and diversity in cinema and audiovisual.
The boss of the CNC, who notably financially supports creation and authors, was appointed in 2019 by the president and reappointed for a new three-year term in July 2022, more than a year after his indictment in this case.
“The President of the Republic will thus have played into the hands of the RN”
The 52-year-old filmmaker and actress, who became the spearhead of a new MeToo wave in French cinema after filing a complaint against the filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for “rape of a minor”, also attacked the minister of Culture Rachida Dati, “who nevertheless says she positions herself on the side of the victims”.
She criticized him for having “paid tribute” to Dominique Boutonnat last May at the Cannes Film Festival, “in front of an audience of professionals.” The minister had in fact thanked the president of the institution for “his excellent work in favor of the CNC,” as reported by Télérama. “Once again, denial, insularity,” Judith Godrèche lashed out on Friday.
The actress and director also suggested that the CNC boss’s continued position until now had delayed the choice of his replacement, a decision that may now fall to the National Rally, if the latter comes to power following the legislative elections on Sunday, June 30 and July 7, in which it is the big favorite. “Having supported Boutonnat until the verdict means that it could be the next Minister of Culture who chooses his successor at the head of the CNC,” she wrote.
“On this ground too, the President of the Republic will have played into the hands of the RN,” said the actress, who has sharply criticized the far-right party’s program in recent days, as well as Emmanuel Macron’s risky bet to dissolve the National Assembly. “On this ground too, it is up to us to mobilize so that the CNC defends democratic values - including against VSS (sexual and gender-based violence) “, she concludes, in what looks like a call to vote.
Following the resignation of Dominique Boutonnat, Rachida Dati has entrusted “the interim presidency of the CNC to its current deputy general director, Olivier Henrard”, according to a message sent to the organization’s agents. This appointment must still be validated by Emmanuel Macron at the next Council of Ministers, but the cards could indeed be reshuffled after the vote, and Judith Godrèche is not the only one in the sector to be worried about the possibility of seeing a far-right personality arrive at the controls of the CNC.
As early as February, Judith Godrèche had denounced before the Senators the implementation of training against sexual violence by the CNC in “a building, an institution whose president is himself accused of sexual violence”. In an interview with Le Parisien at the same time, she had also considered that it was “a symbol to have at the head of this institution a man who, even if he has not yet been judged, is under investigation”.
In mid-May, the filmmaker demonstrated alongside activists and professionals in the sector in front of the CNC headquarters, to demand the withdrawal of its president. “Justice must do its job and it is not up to us to take a position,” retorted Leslie Thomas, secretary general of the institution.