In one of the most prominent #MeToo cases in the French film industry, director Christophe Ruggia has been found guilty of the sexual assault of Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel. Ruggia was given a two-year custodial sentence to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and an additional two-year suspended sentence.
The prosecution had requested a five-year prison sentence with a three-year suspended sentence. Ruggia’s lawyers called the ruling “unjustified” and said they would appeal.
Haenel first went public with her sexual assault allegation against Ruggia in 2019 in an interview with French investigative website Mediapart. She accused the director of sexually assault and molestation over the course of three years, starting when she was 12 and he was 36, and Ruggia cast her in his 2001 feature The Devils. Haenel played the lead role in the film, a story of a brother and sister who turn to incest, and which included nudity and sex scenes between the young actors.
“You took advantage of the influence you had over the young actress,” the court ruled, citing testimony from other adults on The Devils set who reported being “uncomfortable” with Ruggia’s “inappropriate” behavior towards Haenel.
Ruggia denied the accusations.
During the trial, the actress struggled to contain her rage at Ruggia, at one point screaming at him to “shut your mouth!” when the director gave evidence in his defense suggesting he tried to protect her as a teenager and gave her advice on how to avoid being bullied at school.
Haenel was one of the first French actresses to come forth with sexual assault allegations in the wake of the #MeToo movement and she received little public support from the French industry at the time.
In 2020, Haenel stormed out of the 45th César Awards — France’s Oscars — when Roman Polanski, who infamously remains a fugitive from U.S. justice for a sexual assault on a minor dating back to the 1970s, and has several other sexual assault allegations against him, all of which he denies — was awarded the best director prize for his film An Officer and a Spy. Shouting “Shame!” Haenel walked out, followed by her Portrait of a Lady director Céline Sciamma. In 2023, Haenel announced her retirement from cinema, citing the complacency and indifference of the French industry to the #MeToo movement as the reason.
The French industry has since changed its tune amid a wave of allegations, including from actress Judith Godrèche against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon; multiple charges of assault and misconduct filed against French star Gerard Depardieu; and the recent sentencing of National Film Board (CNC) president Dominique Boutonnat, for the sexual assault of his godson.
The César Academy recently changed its rules suspending the voting rights for any members facing charges of criminal violence, particularly of a sexual nature, as well as banning them from being nominated for the film honor.
