André Techiné accused of harassment and sexual assault by actor Francis Renaud – Libération

The filmmaker as well as the casting director Gérard Moulévrier are the subject of a criminal complaint filed by the actor for facts which allegedly occurred between 1988 and 2004. The two contest these accusations this Tuesday, February 27.

After those of the actresses, the actors' words are now speaking out against sexual violence in cinema. Last Thursday, the actor Francis Renaud, 56, notably seen at the cinema in several films by Olivier Marchal, published on X the photo of a complaint filed on February 22 and which targets the French filmmaker André Téchiné as well as casting director Gérard Moulévrier. The infractions ? “Sexual harassment”, “death threat” and “sexual assault”. Acts allegedly committed between 1988 and 2004.

Contacted by the Parisian, Francis Renaud did not comment on the subject. But the daily recalls that the actor had published a book in 2018, Rage in the heart, where he recounted an episode in his life where a “supercasting director” told him: “The right of cooking exists. To succeed, you have to sleep.” He added that this person then passed his hand between his thighs for him. 'grab the penis gently through [son] pants”.

The Parisian also reports that in this book Francis Renaud explained that André Téchiné had one day taken his hand during a lunch and said: “You disturb me a lot, Francis. You should go further!” According to the actor, after refusing these advances, he would have been “blacklisted”.

Contacted by the Parisian, André Téchiné and Gérard Moulevrier dispute the actor's accusations. The first wrote a message sent by his lawyer to the newspaper: “I am obviously sorry that [Francis Renaud] was embarrassed by my sentimental, clumsy verbal approach at that lunch. I was of course wrong, at the time, in not being able to perceive that our relationship was not on an equal footing in his eyes because of my status as director. On the other hand, I can only express my incomprehension today regarding this filing of a criminal complaint.”

Actor Aurélien Wiik launched the hashtag #MeTooGarçons on Instagram last week. “The movie boys wake up”, he notably wrote, sharing some of his experiences, before calling “boys, girls” has “talk” And “to act”, by filing a complaint.