The 75-year-old French director is implicated by several women who accuse him of having made sexual proposals to them in exchange for roles.
A new French director is accused of sexual violence. In a survey of Mediapart, five actresses accuse the director Philippe Garrel of having behaved inappropriately towards them, in particular sexual proposals in exchange for a role or of having tried to kiss them without their consent. The 75-year-old filmmaker denies most of what he is accused of.
Among the accusers, we find the actress Anna Mouglalis (dark baron, Jealousy). After playing under the direction of Philippe Garrel in 2013, the latter got back in touch with her for a film project. The actress, 30 years her junior, invites her to her home for a work session, without any ambiguity on her part, she says. She then finds the filmmaker lying on his bed “while there were two sofas next to him”, inviting him to join him for a reading. She refuses her “insulting” behavior, which the director defends himself by claiming to have suffered from discomfort.
Another actress accuses Philippe Garrel of violence. She meets him in 2018, when he is 70 years old and she is 28. He would have first given her an appointment in a hotel to discuss a role, which the actress refuses before meeting him at an outdoor cafe. There, she accuses him of having caressed her thigh. When she leaves the date, he allegedly “insisted on walking her home” before trying to kiss her. The director denies having tried to kiss her on the mouth and apologizes if his “attempt to seduce, inappropriate or clumsy, could have hurt her”. Three other accusers say they were subjected to unwanted gestures and attempted kisses.
Marie Vialle and Clotilde Hesme denounces his behavior
For her part, Marie Vialle, French actress seen in Inseparable in 2008 and more recently at the theater, affirms that Philippe Garrel had offered to write a film for her when she was a student at the Conservatoire between 1994 and 1997 and he was her teacher. During a professional meeting, he would have told her that he was in love with her and that he “can’t make the film if I don’t sleep with you”. Clotilde Hesme (love songs) asserts that she was humiliated by Philippe Garrel on the set of regular lovers (2005), which dubbed her “Incest” since the film detailed a love affair between her son [Louis Garrel] and the actress. Laurence CordierA great team) ensures for his part that the director would have offered to “pay the hotel” and to have taken her by the waist despite her refusal.
Philippe Garrel defends himself
Philippe Garrel denies most of the accusations made against him with Médiapart, however apologizing to certain victims for having “misinterpreted” their feelings or for his “attempts at seduction”. éReading all these testimonies, I realize the difference between what I imagined then and what I made them live, he specifies. I had already become aware of the culture that shaped me, and that opened up a questioning in me.” For her part, Anna Mouglalis claims to have been contacted by the director to withdraw her testimony, but the Philippe Garrel’s lawyer refutes the accusations of pressure: “He ended up telling her that she had to do what her conscience dictated to her. My client tells me that he did not exert any pressure on this actress, and that his approach cannot be interpreted as such.