Let's be clear from the outset: Judith Godrèche's short film Moi Aussi ("Me Too"), presented on Wednesday, May 15, at the Cannes Film Festival during the opening night of the "Un Certain Regard" section, holds more significance as a societal symbol than as a cinematic work. In itself, that's not such a bad thing. In choosing to screen this 17-minute film, Thierry Frémaux, the festival's general delegate, primarily pays tribute to the actress and director's fight. In February, she filed a complaint against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon for "rape of a minor under 15." Following her lead, other actresses have accused the two filmmakers of violence and sexual harassment. Isild Le Besco, for example, denounced the "destructive influence" she allegedly suffered at Jacquot's hands.
On Wednesday evening, Frémaux hailed the "#MeToo revolution" and expressed his full support for Godrèche: "Your commitment and your fight are ours," he said. The short film will be screened in art-house cinemas, he added.
Moi Aussi gives substance to this free speech movement that has been unfolding over the past few months. In fact, the film stemmed from a call for testimonials from Godrèche, who, the day after she spoke out, set up an email address to enable victims to share their stories. The actress claimed to have received 5,000 messages in the space of a fortnight. The film makes several hundred of these witnesses visible, women as well as men. Godrèche films them as a collective body, their silhouettes tightly packed and bundled up on a Parisian avenue while a voiceover recounts, without pausing, the traumas suffered by each and every one of them.
Moi Aussi opens on the face of Tess Barthélemy, Godrèche's 19-year-old daughter. She previously starred in her mother's series, Icon of French Cinema, playing a young girl who falls in love with her older dance teacher. Wearing a white dress, she performs a dance routine, blends into the crowd and creates interactions. In Moi Aussi, if you don't know the seriousness of the subject, you might initially mistake it for a perfume advertisement. However, any misunderstanding is quickly dispelled. People mime the silence in which they are entombed, their hands clasped over their mouths. Their expressions are sad and frozen, then the atmosphere relaxes as the soundtrack mirrors the drama. The folk guitar gives way to a beating heart followed by stringed instruments.
The 17 minutes feel a little long, before, as the credits roll, statistics on the number of rapes and incest appear on the screen like in a prevention campaign. Moi Aussi received warm applause, and a few people gave Godrèche a standing ovation, who was there with the film crew. Afterward, the short film was screened at the Cinéma de la Plage, beneath the stars, on the Croisette.
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