This Wednesday, “Fuck it”, the first feature film by Julie Lecoustre and Emmanuel Marre, was released in theaters. The preview in our country took place at the Palace cinema in Brussels, in the presence of the two French directors and two actors: Adèle Exarchopoulos and Arthur Egloff. A traditional question-and-answer session followed the screening. It was this moment that several spectators chose to denounce sexual assaults of which they would have been victims on the part of Arthur Egloff, indicate our colleagues from BX1 and Mosquito.
A first viewer began by asking if the actors were drunk on the set, referring to a scene where Cassandre (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Arthur (Arthur Egloff) end a drunken evening on a sofa. The actor confirmed to have consumed a few miniatures of alcohol for this take. Another woman then rebounded by asking if it was this state of intoxication which explained the insistence of the character towards his colleague (he notably places a hand on her thigh, which she asks him to withdraw). “I wanted to know how scripted or improvised this scene was since Arthur sexually assaulted several of my female friends,” immediately dropped the interlocutor, according to Moustique.
The French actor and director answered the first part of the question and stressed how important consent is to them, but that didn’t stop other viewers from also making accusations of sexual assault against French actor. One of them presented herself as “a victim of Arthur Egloff” and underlined “how difficult it was to witness such a scene in the film“.
The film crew let these people express themselves while asking that the room not become a court. The directors and producers had no comment on the accusations”pertaining to the private sphere and not to the film“, while ensuring that all the actors were consenting during the filming. A few dozen people ended up leaving the room, still according to our colleagues.
The “unaware” production
The producer, Benoit Roland, affirmed the next day to Moustique that he was not aware of these accusations while recalling that “the stories put forward by these women are part of the private sphere, they have no connection with the film“. However, he explained that discussions had taken place internally :”We have reported internally what happened, to ensure that the importance of these speaking out is understood.”
The principal concerned, meanwhile, told BX1: “I heard and listened to the words and speeches expressed against me on Monday evening. And I take full measure of their weight and gravity.”