“And now what do we do?” “ It is past midnight, Friday February 28, and Roman Polanski has just been crowned best director by the Caesar Academy. For feminists, this is time for amazement. “March 8 is near, they will hear us”, warns Sophie Tissier, activist “yellow vests” stuck against the protective grids installed in front of the red carpet.
For feminist collectives, this César for best achievement, felt like a brotherly assent of French cinema to a man accused of rape and sexual assault by many women, marks a “before / after”. With this dedication, the anger of feminists was coupled with a tenacious determination, making March 8 an unprecedented deadline.
In this, the past week has come to catalyze a bubbling word, which wants to find a way out on the streets Sunday, where the different feminist collectives expect a major mobilization for International Women’s Day.
“A tipping point”
“Anger is not new”, says Céline Piques, spokesperson for Dare Feminism, recalling the mobilizations organized against the director in recent years, especially in January 2017 against his appointment as president of the Césars. “At the time, positions were difficult, we were accused of censorship”, remembers the activist, according to whom this 45e ceremony marks a turning point in “Listening to the feminist voice”.
A word that was expressed en masse on militant messaging groups or on social networks. In front of the Salle Pleyel and even inside. Thousands of women have said their ” shame ” face this “Ignominy”. “After a painful ceremony, marked by an unbearable self-esteem and an absence of political speech, I felt a great rage”, confides Anne Leclerc, 63, union member and activist within the collective On arrête toutes.
In unison, feminists describe this award ceremony as “A tipping point”, projecting a harsh light on what they call “Of impunity of French cinema”. Impunity that would have taken shape, at the end of the ceremony, in the words of several celebrities, including actress Fanny Ardant, who introduced herself as a friend of the filmmaker and who said “Very happy for him”. At his side, Nicolas Bedos had added: “I am silent my dominant white male voice. “
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