French cinema is under pressure. Not because of falling audiences or artistic debates, but because of an issue that for years remained hidden behind red curtains, the glamour of festivals and big names: sexual violence and abuse of power in the film industry.
Actress Sara Forestier has become one of the most prominent voices of the French #MeToo movement. With an unusual openness, she demands that the political world and the industry itself end impunity. Her words strike a sensitive chord — and with great force.
Already during her testimony before a parliamentary inquiry committee at the end of 2024, Forestier recounted experiences that shocked many observers. She spoke about humiliation on set, about violence and about situations that left her almost speechless as a young actress. Especially troubling: after an incident during a shoot, she was advised not to file a complaint. The financial damage to the production weighed more than her protection. A line like a punch.
Since then, a red thread has spread through the French cultural scene. More and more actresses are publicly recounting experiences that were previously discussed in low voices. Names like Judith Godrèche or Adèle Haenel no longer only define cinema, but also the social debate in France.
The investigative commission led by politician Sandrine Rousseau finally described a system marked for decades by dependencies. Young actresses, freelance collaborators, interns — many stayed silent for fear of losing their careers. Those who opposed often risked more than a role. In the world of film, news like this spreads like wildfire.
The report already published by the commission goes even further. It speaks of a “systemic” nature of sexual and gender-based violence in the cultural sphere. This is more than a political phrase. It means the problems are no longer isolated cases, but part of a structure.
And that is where the real conflict begins.
Because while many cultural creators demand deep reforms, others react with strong rejection. Some directors and producers warn of an alleged “witch hunt.” Others accuse the industry of having deliberately looked the other way for decades. There is now a deep rift between these camps.
That is why Forestier is calling not only for legal consequences. His appeal is also directed at production companies and film associations. It concerns better protection for minors, clear channels for filing complaints, intimacy coordinators on sets and increased responsibility of producers. Issues that in Hollywood, after the Weinstein scandal, are already standard, but that in French cinema still generate debate.
France could be experiencing a cultural turning point. Traditional auteur cinema, often proud of its transgressions and artistic freedom, must now accept new rules. Some see it as a necessary modernization, others as an attack on an entire culture.
But one thing is clear: the silence that for years covered the industry like a thick curtain is tearing more and more. And that curtain will hardly close again.
Andreas M. B.