The rumors of a sex scandal that were making the rounds in the French media and on the Internet last weekend were confirmed on May 13th local time. Just before the opening of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, ELLE magazine published an investigative report, collecting testimonies from nine women, accusing the famous film producer Alain Sarde of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Before retiring, Alain Saade was also a frequent visitor to Cannes

Alain Sade, 72 years old this year, has been in the industry for half a century. His name may be unfamiliar to ordinary audiences, but the works he produced include many classic masterpieces recorded in the history of film, such as Godard's "Carmen", David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive", Polanski's "Bitter Moon", "The Pianist" and "Oliver Twist", Téchiné's "The Wild Reeds", Ozon's "The Fire", Kusturica's "Life is a Miracle", etc. It is no exaggeration to say that he is one of the most important French film producers in the past half century. In addition, his brother Philippe Sade is also a famous film music master in the French film industry. Therefore, he has a wide network of contacts and a huge influence in the entire French film industry.

This time, the reporter collected testimonies from a total of nine women and made serious accusations against THAAD. A woman named Elsa recalled that in 1985, when she was 15 years old, she was invited to THAAD's apartment to discuss cooperation because she had the dream of becoming an actress. The latter first showed her around his residence and slowly walked to the bedroom. "I wanted to leave at the time, but suddenly he pushed me onto the bed and pounced on me. I clearly remember his lips, his disgusting mouth. He was ugly, even though his fingernails were neatly trimmed. He was just a beast, and after all these years, I could still feel his body pressing against me. He held me down and raped me."

Those who are willing to accuse by real name include actress Annelise Hesme, who was born in 1977. In 1997, when she was 20 years old, she met Sade, who was 20 years older than her. The latter did not provide her with any performance opportunities, but instead asked her to work as a "escort girl." "He asked me to be responsible for organizing a dinner for actors, directors and distributors. He told me that they like beautiful and energetic women like you. Moreover, you are rewarded for doing these things. If you like one of them, at night, you may be able to make more money. It all depends on you." More than 20 years later, the insulting words said by Sade still make Annelise Hesme indignant.

The testimonies of the other seven women interviewed also involved forced oral sex, sexual assault, and rape. The person involved, THAAD, has also immediately entrusted a lawyer to respond, angrily denouncing all the accusations as lies. However, in fact, as early as 1997, THAAD was investigated for similar situations. At that time, many women complained that THAAD would use audition opportunities to sexually harass and sexually assault them. However, in the end, due to the lack of substantial evidence, the judge rejected the prosecution's request for prosecution in 1999.

The only good news for the Cannes Film Festival is that THAAD retired ten years ago, so there will be no works related to him on the Cannes stage this year, and the organizers will not be forced to face the thorny issue of how to cut off the film festival before it even opens. However, since the THAAD scandal broke out on Monday, whether there will be more scandals exposed in the next two weeks and whether Cannes will be dragged into the water is a very worrying issue for the organizers.

On May 14, 2024, local time, in Cannes, France, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Fremaux attended the Cannes "Honorary Palme d'Or" media meeting. Visual China Photo

On the same day, Cannes Film Festival Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux met with journalists as usual. At the press conference, he also talked about the crisis. He first mentioned the opening film of last year's Cannes Film Festival, "The Countess du Barry". At that time, the outside world seized on the issue of Johnny Depp's suspected domestic violence, questioned the organizer's selection of films, and led to many topics. This time, Frémaux said that he had reached a consensus with Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch very early on to ensure that no similar problems would occur in this Cannes.

"As everyone knows, we encountered some controversies last year, and we are aware of this, so this year we decided to hold a film festival without controversy to ensure that the main purpose of everyone coming here is for the movies. Therefore, even if there is any controversy this time, we will not pay special attention to it," said Fumao.

Last Sunday, Cannes Mayor David Lisnard published a public article comparing the anti-sexual assault movement in the French film industry to the Stasi, the intelligence agency in the former East Germany. "The only difference between the oppression in East Germany and the oppression in France today is that the Stasi acted in the name of the government with a clear purpose. Today's interrogators act in the name of the general public," the mayor wrote. At the press conference on Monday, some media also asked Frémaux how he evaluated the remarks of the Cannes mayor. But the latter responded that he had not read the article yet.