The Cannes Film Festival is about to open its doors and tongues continue to loosen in the very closed world of cinema. This Monday, the magazine She published an investigation into producer Alain Sarde, 72, targeted by nine testimonies of sexual assault and rape.
For years, the producer of Pianist and of Mulholland Drive allegedly used his position of choice in the 7th art to attract young women, sometimes minors, before sexually assaulting them. Some managed to escape, others did not.
Box of chocolates
According to the ten testimonies collected by She, the facts date back mostly to the 1990s and report sexual assault, harassment and sometimes rape. As in many cases of sexist and sexual violence, Alain Sarde even followed an operating procedure. He invited young women starting out in cinema to his home, made them feel comfortable, offered them chocolates, before directing them to his room. One of the witnesses was reportedly advised to flee as soon as Alain Sarde offered chocolates.
“If you want it to stop, go to the cops”
However, most say they were ignored by the world of cinema, starting with agents who knew the importance of the producer for their careers. One of them reportedly informed her agent of the attack, who responded: “Listen, he’s the biggest producer in Paris. It’s his word against yours. You’ve just started, if you want it to stop now, go ahead, go to the cops! “. Twenty before Me Too, none of them dared or even were encouraged to file a complaint.
At the end of the 1990s, Alain Sarde had already been targeted by a sexual assault investigation and imprisoned for “rape and attempted rape” at the Maison de la Santé in Paris. The producer was involved in a pimping network where the famous photographer Jean-Pierre Bourgeois took young women to Alain Sarde under a professional pretext. Although his incarceration made headlines at the time, the producer’s name was subsequently able to appear on new major productions.