At the origin of the controversy surrounding “The Return”, suspicions of harassment and irregularities concerning an explicitly sexual but simulated scene, involving the actress Esther Gohourou who was under 16 at the time of filming.
Filmmaker Catherine Corsini and her producer Elisabeth Perez thanked the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday April 25 for maintaining their film The return in the official selection, denying suspicions of harassment and irregularities concerning an explicitly sexual but simulated scene, involving an actress under the age of 16. “We would first like to thank the Cannes Film Festival for having confirmed the invitation made to Catherine Corsini’s film”, can we read in the press release taken up by Allociné.
The text includes a testimony from the young actress, Esther Gohourou, who was 15 and a half years old during the filming, and who says she wants “end this story” specifying that he refused, like his 17-year-old partner, doubles and an intimacy coach offered by the filmmaker.
Esther Gohourou “is fine”
“We knew what we were going to have to shoot, that we would only see the faces and that we would not have to touch each other in real life. And that’s what happened. Some people called the social worker from high school to say things that had nothing to do with what happened“, she concludes. “Harold (the other young actor) I’m fine and I’m fine.”
After the questioning of this scene and the suspicions of harassment on the set reported by The Parisian And Teleramathe board of directors of the Cannes festival had “wanted to know more about the situation of the work”, wrote Le Parisien. The Festival, which takes place from May 16 to 27, finally included it in its selection on Monday.
“Anonymous and defamatory emails have been sent to the entire profession and to the press, helping to create an extraordinarily damaging rumor for the film. It is fortunate that the largest festival in the world has taken the time to thoroughly verify their veracity “declare Catherine Corsini and her producer.
“Let’s stop the fantasies there!”
“There is no complaint of any kind filed against Catherine Corsini, nor against the production of the film. The only irregularity observed (…), which we recognized very early on, is an administrative breach, that of a undeclared scene and therefore not covered by the Commission des enfants du spectacle”they defend themselves.
“Let’s stop the fantasies there! The teenagers were dressed and the scene is filmed on the faces. There was neither touching nor inappropriate contact between them two”, they add. The absence of a declaration of the scene in question cost the director financial aid from the National Cinema Center (CNC).
In a press release, the Collectif 50/50, which notably promotes parity in cinema and audiovisual, expressed its “consternation” about the selection of Corsini’s latest feature film, pointing out that “the alleged facts seem sufficiently serious for the CNC to temporarily freeze public subsidies intended for the film”.