Maybe some of our French readers can enlighten us on what the heck is going on right now in the French film industry in regards to the “Les Amandiers” controversy.
Here what we know: Sofiane Bennacer, a French actor who stars in Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s Cannes competition title “Les Amandiers”, has been accused on four counts of rape and violence.
The Cesars (France’s equivalent to the Oscars) have consequently canceled him as he was originally part of the emerging actors shortlisted for the best newcomer category.
The rape accusations are coming from three former girlfriends and there’s a domestic violence charge from one other accuser. The investigations were only launched recently. Bennacer went on social media to plead his innocence:
“Does the presumption of innocence still exist? Or can a baseless accusation destroy a life? […] I will probably be boycotted from the film industry. In any case I’ve been humiliated to the depths of my soul,” he continued.
Bennacer is currently dating his ‘Amandiers’ director Valerie Bruni-Tedeschi and reports are claiming that the accusations against Bennacer were well-known during production of the film. I kept wondering whether Tedeschi would throw her current Beau under the bus, but she is defending her boyfriend. blaming the French media for ignoring presumption of innocence.
I saw “Les Amandiers” at Cannes and barely knew his name to begin with, but he does make a mark in the film. It is damning enough that you have four people accusing him of such a serious crime. However, is it unfair for anyone to take the sides of the accused or accusers, at least until the current investigations have been completed?
Then again, the Cesars have already presumed he’s guilty. Unless these investigations unearth a sordid conspiracy between the four former girlfriends then his acting career is basically kaput and, even worse, he could get jail time.