(Paris) An investigating judge ordered on Tuesday that French director Christophe Ruggia be tried on December 9 and 10 in Paris for aggravated sexual assault committed on actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, we learned on Saturday from sources close to the case.
The case, emblematic of the #metoo movement in cinema in France, was revealed in 2019 by a long investigation and interview with the actress (Freely !, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) to the Mediapart website.
Adèle Haenel has since repeatedly denounced “the generalized complacency of the profession towards sexual aggressors”, including through her sensational outing at the 2020 César ceremony when Roman Polanski, accused of rape, received the award for best director for I accuse.
Now a theatre actress, she made her break with cinema in 2023.
PHOTO BERTRAND GUAY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Actress Adèle Haenel, in 2020
In her referral order consulted by AFP, the magistrate highlighted in particular the actress’s “detailed, constant and precise” denunciations, “her state of shock” at the time of the events, “the psychological repercussions” of the attacks, “the significant age difference between the two protagonists” and “the occurrence of a progressive psychological constraint” imposed by the director, the first to have cast her in the film. Devils (2002).
The investigating judge noted two aggravating circumstances: the actress’s minority at the time of the events and the filmmaker’s position of authority.
“Christophe Ruggia, 59 years old, contested all the facts reported by the civil party throughout the proceedings,” recalls the investigating judge.
The director’s lawyers, Fanny Colin and Orly Rezlan, declined to comment.
The facts that will be brought up during the trial span from September 2001 to February 2004: Adèle Haenel was then aged 12 to 15.
Then aged 36 to 39, Christophe Ruggia had received her every Saturday afternoon for almost three years at his home.
On the other hand, the investigating judge ordered a dismissal of the sexual assaults reported by the actress during festivals in Japan in June 2002 and in Morocco in September 2002. The period from January to the end of August 2001 is also excluded from the proceedings.
In 2019, Adèle Haenel denounced the “control” of the director, little known to the general public, during the preparation and filming of Devils. Then there was “constant sexual harassment”, repeated “groping” and “forced kisses on the neck”, which allegedly took place at his home and at several international festivals.
Several figures in French cinema have been caught up in accusations of sexual violence.
Actor Gérard Depardieu, charged since 2020 with rape and sexual assault on actress Charlotte Arnould, will be tried in October for sexual violence against two women during the filming of The green shutters by Jean Becker in 2021.
Actress Judith Godrèche, 52, has sparked a new storm by publicly accusing Benoît Jacquot of rape and then Jacques Doillon of sexual assault at the beginning of the year. But the facts she denounces seem time-barred.
Benoît Jacquot was nevertheless charged in early July with the rape of actresses Julia Roy in 2013 and Isild le Besco between 1998 and 2000. Placed under judicial supervision, he is prohibited from working as a director and from attending public events related to cinema.
Jacques Doillon, for his part, saw his police custody lifted for medical reasons. He is notably accused of rape, assault and battery and psychological violence by Joe Rohanne, a non-binary trans person.