During an interview at the JDD, actress Charlize Theron gave her opinion on the gesture of Adèle Haenel, who had left the Cesar ceremony after the victory of Roman Polanski.
Even if the health crisis went through there, making the controversies somewhat forgotten, French cinema experienced a real earthquake last February . Following the appointments of the film J’accuse by Roman Polanski and the media outcry that followed , the management of the Academy of Cesars had been forced to resign . During the ceremony, the atmosphere had been particularly heavy and the victory of Roman Polanski had engulfed the Salle Pleyel , causing the hasty and voluntary departure of the team from the film Portrait of the young girl on fire , Adèle Haenel at the head. Outraged by this award awarded to the French-Polish filmmaker, accused of rape by photographer Valentine Monnier , Florence Foresti had refused to reappear on stage , forcing Sandrine Kiberlain, the President of this 45th edition, to close the evening , visibly embarrassed. This Thursday, July 9, a meeting must take place to define the new statutes governing the Academy of Caesar, appoint a new assembly and a new President who will, in all likelihood, be a President.
If the French cinema community was torn apart about this historic evening, it remained to be seen what the echo of it was on the side of Hollywood, still shaken by the turmoil of the Weinstein affair . One of the main instigators of the #MeToo movement, actress Rose McGowan , quickly supported Adèle Haenel . This time, it is another actress who steps up to defend the gesture of her French colleague and the director Céline Sciamma .
It is none other than the star Charlize Theron ! Interviewed in the last issue of JDD , the actress of Mad Max Fury Roadfirst shows her love for the film Portrait of the young girl on fire , which she saw four times: “This film deeply moved me! It is, by far, one of my favorites from the last decade I was amazed by the power of the love story, by the filmmaker’s delicate gaze on her actresses, by this level of understanding of the female condition, by the beauty of the staging. was captivated. “
A gesture to emulate?
After Adèle Haenel’s departure, the novelist Virginie Despentes had signed a forum in which she encouraged women to leave public places when words or deeds that they deemed revolting occurred. An act of protest, supported by Charlize Theron , who does not exclude doing the same at the Oscars , for example: “Of course, anything is possible. Obviously! I understand and I completely validate this gesture.” The actress and producer, appearing next Friday in the film The Old Guard on Netflix , also explains that she is eager to work with Céline Sciamma :”I’ve been trying to set up a date with her for almost five years! I loved her previous feature film, Bande de filles. We met at the start of the year, on the evenings awards ceremony in the United States. Then the health crisis came. I dream of working with it. ” The call is launched!