French actress accuses directors of past sexual abuse

French police are looking into a complaint made by actress Judith Godrèche against director Benoît Jacquot. She says he raped her in the past.

Ms Godrèche, 51, says that Mr Jacquot, 77, raped her when she was 14 years old in 1986 and continued to hurt her in their relationship until the 1990s.

Her lawyer told the AFP news agency that she filed a complaint on Tuesday.

Mr Jacquot strongly says he didn’t do what she claims.

Ms Godrèche talked on French radio on Thursday and said that when she was 15, another famous French director, Jacques Doillon, did something wrong to her. His lawyer says he also strongly disagrees with the actress’s accusations.

At the beginning of her career, Ms Godrèche was famous for her roles in two movies made by Benoît Jacquot, The Beggars (1987) and The Disenchanted (1990).

Benoît Jacquot has been making movies since the mid-1970s. In 2012, his drama Farewell, My Queen was shown at the 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival.

Judith Godrèche has acted in many movies such as The Overnight (2015), The Spanish Apartment (2002), and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). These are some of her most famous movies.

She had talked about her relationship with Benoît Jacquot on a TV show about her life in French cinema. She didn’t say his name.

She posted his name on social media last month because she saw a documentary from 2011 where the director talked about his relationship with a young person, and it made her decide to do it.

In an interview with Le Monde, Mr. Jacquot said he does not agree with what Judith Godrèche is saying about him.

AFP talked to him on Wednesday. He said he still believes what he said in the newspaper and doesn’t want to say anything else about it.

Ms Godrèche said more things during a radio interview on France Inter on Thursday. She talked about a private scene while filming for Jacques Doillon’s movie The 15 Year Old Girl in 1989.

She said she was hurt when she lived with Jane Birkin and also during a sex scene in a movie.

“He hired an actor, we began recording and then he replaced the actor and played the role himself,” she said.

“I don’t have a shirt on and he’s touching me inappropriately, and he’s kissing me, and Jane can see everything and it’s really hard for her to watch. ”

Marie Dosé, the lawyer for Jacques Doillon, said he learned about the accusations from the news. He strongly denies them and wants to tell his side in court.

The public prosecutor has given the complaints against both directors to the Juvenile Protection Brigade in Paris.