Pallade Veneta - French film director denies child actor abuse in landmark trial

Christophe Ruggia is accused of sexually assaulting the star of "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" in the early 2000s when she was between 12 and 14 and he was in his late 30s.

Haenel, now 35, was the first prominent actor to accuse the French film industry of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse.

"There had to be a French #MeToo and it landed on me," former directors' union chief Ruggia, 59, told the court, calling the allegations "pure lies".

Facing up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros ($159,000) if found guilty of assaulting a minor, he has denied all charges.

"He said that he had created her," that he "loved her, that others couldn't understand, that he'd been unlucky to fall in love with her, that she was an adult in a child's body," the judge read, referring to Ruggia.

- Trial sees film extracts -

In 2019, Haenel went public about the assaults, stunning the French film industry, which had been slower than Hollywood to react to the #MeToo movement.

She accused the director of subjecting her to "constant sexual harassment" from the age of 12, including "forced kisses on the neck" and touching.

Ruggia directed Haenel in the 2002 movie "The Devils", a tale of an incestuous relationship between a boy and his autistic sister. It was her first film role.

The film contains sex scenes between the children and close-ups of Haenel's naked body.

In excerpts shown at the trial, one scene showed the 12-year-old actor getting out of the shower and walking down a long corridor naked. In another, the camera zooms in on her as she caresses herself.

Haenel looked shaken and at one stage wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. Ruggia watched all the extracts.

Investigators said the actor told them about sequences that made her feel "very uncomfortable" and others that were "violent".

"I realised that the film was painful for Adele, that she was shocked by the shooting," Ruggia told the court.

He also said he had the "same relationship" with a child actor playing the brother.

Investigators said before the trial that members of the film crew had told them of their "unease" with Ruggia's behaviour on set.

- 'Adele, you're not alone' -

Between 2001 and 2004, the teenager went to see Ruggia nearly every Saturday. She has accused him of finding a pretext to get close to her during the encounters at his home.

She alleged that he caressed her thighs and touched her genitals and breasts.

"He would breathe hard" and "kiss me on the neck", she said.

It was Haenel herself who "asked to come" to his home, Ruggia said in the dock, wearing jeans and a grey jacket.

He said the two "talked about cinema, chatted, most of the time we spent an hour or an hour and a half in front of the shelves of DVDs".

Ruggia added that Haenel "has reconstructed things, she may have reinterpreted" the interactions as sexual.

Asked by the judge why the actor might now bear a grudge against him, the director suggested that she had become "radicalised".

"Look at what she's been doing for the past five years. It started with me, then it's the Cesar (awards) with Polanski" -- all the way to saying that "every minister in the government is a rapist," a visibly aggrieved Ruggia said.

In 2020, Haenel stormed out of the industry's Cesars award ceremony in protest against a prize awarded to veteran director Roman Polanski, who is wanted in the United States for statutory rape.

Ruggia denied ever being "sexually attracted" by Haenel as a child, but reiterated that she had an "overwhelming sensuality" during the film shoot at age 12 -- "and she still has it today".

A visibly agitated Haenel, set to testify later, appeared to be struggling not to react.

About 50 people, mainly women, gathered outside the court before the hearing chanting: "Adele, we believe you. Rapists we see you". They carried placards with slogans such as: "Adele, you're not alone".

The actor, who has won two Cesars -- the French equivalent of an Oscar -- said she was leaving the industry last year over what she called its complacency towards sexual predators.

Cinema legend Gerard Depardieu, 75, is to stand trial in March accused of sexually assaulting two women. He denies the accusations.

Actor Judith Godreche said this year two French directors -- Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon -- had sexually abused her when she was a teenager. Both deny the charges.

M.Jacobucci--PV