Deputies alert the courts of possible “failures” during a casting of children for the film “CE2” by Jacques Doillon

President of the children’s rights delegation, Modem MP Perrine Goulet spoke of abuse after watching the videos.

Three deputies have taken legal action over possible “shortcomings” when casting children on the film CE2 by Jacques Doillon, the release of which was postponed after the accusations of sexual assault made against the filmmaker by Judith Godrèche, declared Wednesday March 27 the MoDem deputy Perrine Goulet.

Like two of her colleagues with whom she approached the Paris prosecutor’s office, the MP for Nièvre was the recipient of filmed hearings as part of the preparation of this feature film. President of the children’s rights delegation, Perrine Goulet spoke of abuse after watching the videos. According to her, we see “a little girl who, on several occasions, expresses the fact that she does not want to talk about the harassment of which she was a victim. The person who casts forces her, pushes her, re-questions her several times. We see that the little girl girl twists, she cries, she doesn’t want to speak, but the adult ends up forcing her to speak”she told franceinfo.

In a press release to AFP, the production company said, “serene” and affirms to have at the disposal of justice the “evidence” demonstrating that “the best interests of the children had been preserved”. She mentions “a blunder committed by a single person in a single test video out of more than a hundred (…) produced”.

“They ask two children to actually hit each other”

The MoDem MP also had access to another video that she found “very shocking”. During casting, members of the production team “ask two children to really hit each other. After a while, we hear the voice telling the boys to respond and the boy responds too violently. The little girl is really hurt. We see her afterwards crying with her hands in the hair. We see the casting director saying: ‘No, but it’s good, that’s how it is!'”explains Perrine Goulet to franceinfo.

The production responds that it is not aware of such an extract which, according to it, can only correspond to the rehearsal of a scene and not to a casting audition.

After viewing these images, the deputies sent them at the end of last week to the Paris prosecutor and issued a report under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides that “any constituted authority, any public officer or civil servant who, in the exercise of his functions, acquires knowledge of a crime or misdemeanor is required to give notice without delay to the public prosecutor”.

At the end of February, in front of senators, Judith Godrèche assured that Jacques Doillon had, for the purposes of this film, given instructions to search for a little girl who was the victim of harassment. “to make her relive on screen what she experienced in life.” The production company then rejected these accusations.