Presence of a “children manager” during filming with minors: what is this mandatory measure announced by Rachida Dati ?

Rachida Dati, ministre de la Culture, ce samedi 18 mai 2024 au Festival de Cannes. MAXPPP – Pierre Teyssot

This Saturday, May 18, 2024, the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, was present at the Cannes Film Festival. The opportunity for her to announce the implementation of a measure concerning the support of minors during filming.

Are things changing ? The presence of a "children's manager" will be mandatory from this summer on every film shoot employing minors, and will be a condition for receiving public aid, announced this Saturday the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.

A measure requested

"This will be a condition of access to CNC aid", the National Center for Cinematography, said the minister traveling to the Cannes Film Festival.

This measure was requested by the actress Judith Godrèche, who has become the standard-bearer of the fight against sexual violence against children and the #MeToo movement in France, since she accused filmmakers Jacques Doillon and Benoît Jacquot of rape dating back to his adolescence.

CNC aid was already conditional on the participation of cinema professionals in training on the subject, an obligation now extended to the entire film team.

A commission of inquiry voted on

For several months, the world of French cinema has been hit hard by numerous controversies. Actresses denounce the sexual assaults but also the rapes of which they were victims at the start of their careers, sometimes even as children for some.

Judith Godrèche launched the #MeToo cinema movement after filing a complaint against the two directors Jacques Doillon and Benoît Jacquot for rape of a minor. She, who gave a stabbing speech at the 2024 Caesars ceremony, was finally heard.

On May 2, 2024, deputies voted to create a commission of inquiry into sexual violence in the cinema industry. "We want to move from listening to words to action", indicated Francesca Pasquini, ecologist MP for Hauts-de-Seine after the&nbsp ;vote in the National Assembly. "It's up to us to take over this outstretched hand. It is important that men mobilize. We can choose to be passive witnesses or real allies", declared Renaissance MP Véronique Riotton.

The commission of inquiry must "determine in a very concrete manner the mechanisms and failures which allow these abuses to occur , and to propose legislative measures to better regulate them", explains the Huffington Post. This measure is therefore in addition to the announcements made by Rachida Dati this Saturday.