Actor Sofiane Bennacer, who plays the lead role in Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s film Les Amandiers and indicted in October in Mulhouse for rape and acts of violence, proclaimed his innocence on Wednesday, while the Cesars decided on the excluded from the race for nominations for Best Male Hope 2023. He was one of the sixteen actors shortlisted for the César for Best Male Hope, a purely indicative list that promotes young actors who are likely to appear in the list of César nominees Best Male Newcomer and Best Female Newcomer. He had been selected alongside two other actresses from the film, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Clara Bretheau. Sofiane Bennacer, the actor from the film Les Amandiers, indicted for rape and violence against ex-spouses See also on Konbini The Academy has decided that “the information published by the press since November 22 […] ordered, without prejudice to the presumption of innocence and out of respect for the alleged victims, to remove it from the list of 32 Revelations for the César 2023”, she said Wednesday evening in a press release. She also specifies that she wishes to open “a reflection in order to consider a modification of the regulations which govern the organization of the Cesar ceremony, regulations which do not provide, to date, the hypothesis of a judicial challenge of a participant in an eligible film”. According to Liberation, one of the members of the Revelations committee would have warned the group about the case of Sofiane Bennacer, who appeared on a majority of favorites lists, by simply talking about rumors concerning him. The newspaper also specifies that the casting director of Les Amandiers and one of the film’s producers are members of the Academy. 25 years old wanted to “continue to compete for the Césars”.“I am innocent […]. Does the presumption of innocence still exist? Or are we in a state of lawlessness, a state where the simple baseless accusation can destroy a life?”, he launched in a long message on Instagram. He had already disputed the facts during his indictment. On his networks, he added: “I may be boycotted by the cinema. Either way I got humiliated deep in my soul […]. I’m going to be free in a few months because I haven’t done anything […]. If there was the slightest evidence against me, not just bogus testimonies, real evidence, I would already be in prison.” Faced with these denials, Grégoire Mehl and Anne Lassalle, lawyers for one of the complainants, announced in the evening at AFP that their client “fully maintains the comments and positions already expressed before the investigating services”. The latter is “perfectly aware of the stakes of the current procedure” but regrets “the media coverage of this case for which, despite the suffering endured and the delays of the investigation, she always wished to maintain a certain discretion”, continue the lawyers .According to the prosecutor of Mulhouse, “there were two indictments for acts of rape” on two ex-companions as well as a third “indictment for violence against a spouse”. As part of a fourth complaint filed by another ex-girlfriend who denounced acts of rape, Sofiane Bennacer was placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness. The National Theater of Strasbourg (TNS), where he had been admitted , had seized the Ministry of Culture for acts of “sexist, sexual violence and harassment”. The Ministry of Culture then made a report to the courts, said the prosecutor, without specifying the date. The actor was placed under judicial supervision, she said. Benjamin Morel, administrator of the TNS, told AFP on Wednesday that “it was Sofiane Bennacer who made the decision to resign on February 19, 2021”.Omerta aux AmandiersLiberation also publishes the result of a long eight-month investigation concerning the omerta on the set of Amandiers, for which the newspaper interviewed about fifteen people present on the set. Some had been aware from the hearings of the accusations of sexual violence against the actor, and many of them accuse the production and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi of having knowingly “protected” Sofiane Bennacer. wind of the rape complaint filed in February 2021 by an ex-girlfriend of the actor, had also tried to alert public opinion by sticking messages around the theater occupied by the filming. Two technicians later resigned from the project to protest against this omerta. The film was released on November 16 in theaters.
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