On May 13^th, 2025, the French actor Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexual assault during the shooting of “The Heart of a Man” in 2021. He was given a suspended prison sentence of eighteen months and ordered to pay damages of 5000 and 3000 to the victims. The actor immediately indicated that he would appeal.

In another ongoing trial, the director Christophe Ruggia, sued by the actress Adèle Haenel for sexual assault and sexual harassment when she was a minor, was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment, including two of which to be served, on February 4^th, 2025. The appeal judgement is set for December 19^th, 2025.

These two high-profile cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are far from isolated. This was particularly emphasized during the rise of the #MeToo movement, which led to numerous revelations of SGBV on film sets in the cinema and audiovisual industry.

It therefore seems necessary to review the existing protection framework, as well as its limits.

The legal framework

According to art. L. 1153-1 et seq. of the French Labor Code, no employee may be subjected to sexual harassment or similar behaviors at the workplace. In addition, art. L. 1142-2-1 of the same code prohibits sexist harassment. As a result, the employer has a duty to “make all necessary arrangements” to prevent and punish this kind of behaviors in their company.

In the film industry, the National collective agreement for film production of January 19^th, 2012, which regulates activities of advertisement and cinematic movies production, dedicates Chapter IX to the repression of SGBV during production.

It refers to the National Interprofessional Agreement signed on March 26^th, 2010, which defines SGBV as “unacceptable behavior by one or more individuals; it can take different forms (physical, psychological, sexual), some of which easier to identify than others.” (art 31.1 of the Collective agreement). The text then details four of these forms – sexual harassment, sexist comments and behavior, sexual assault and discrimination –, and reminds the criminal penalties associated with them.

Recognizing the reality of SGBV, the Collective Agreement, in collaboration with the social partners, has set up a prevention procedure. A SGBV prevention kit has been created for professionals, divided into three parts: preventing, reporting or reacting, and dealing with the claims.

Similarly, in 2020, the 50/50 Collective, an association aiming to promote gender equality in the film industry, published the “White Book” on preventing and fighting SGBV, which is “intended to be a concrete support to all cinema and audiovisual professionals to define, raise awareness, detect and react”.

Producers are also subject to many legal and regulatory obligations. Firstly, in accordance with art. L. 4121 of the French Labor Code, they must keep up to date a Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document, which aims to identify and prevent risk factors prior to the production of each film. Next, all employees must be informed of the risks of SGBV, which will be communicated in the company’s internal regulations, their employment contract and on notice boards. To raise awareness, it is required for them to participate in Afdas training.

Since January 1^st, 2025, the French National Centre of Cinema (CNC) has made access to production selective grants conditional on film crews completing mandatory training in the prevention and control of SGBV. More generally, these subventions are granted on the basis the compliance with the prevention and fighting of SGBV. The CNC has been organizing specific training sessions for employers and film crews since 2020.

New roles have appeared on set to help fight SGBV during the shooting. The company must appoint one or more SGBV referents, on a voluntary basis, for the entire duration of the film. Their role, which is detailed in art. 33.1.3 of the Collective agreement, does not replace the producer’s obligations, meaning that they are not responsible for preventing or handling reports of SGBV. Also, in recent years, the profession of intimacy coordinator has been created to supervise intimacy scenes.

Employers also have to develop an internal procedure for reporting SGBV and process the claims, by setting up a “system to encourage feedback on SGBV” (art. 34.3 of the Collective agreement). This must include, a minima, a receipt confirmation of the report, an adversarial investigation, the information on the follow-up and future of the report, an internal investigation (if needed), and a conclusion.

A Commission of inquiry into violence in the film, audiovisual, performing arts, fashion and advertising sectors issued a report on April 9^th, 2025, drawing up a list of recommendations. It suggests especially to create a legal aid for victims with no revenues criteria when reporting SGBV, write in the French Labor Code the employer’s obligation to carry an internal investigation, systematically include in employment contracts SGBV sections, make mandatory the presence of intimacy coordinators for all intimacy scenes involving minors, or else extend the mandatory training to audiovisual shootings.

This legal framework, very developed in the film industry, remains inexistant in the National collective agreement for audiovisual production of December 13^th, 2006. However, two agreements are currently being negotiated to overcome this, especially by making mandatory the presence of a SGBV referent and an intimacy coordinator on set. In addition, on March 7^th, 2025, Mrs Rachida Dati, the French Minister of Culture, unveiled details of her new plan to combat SGBV in the audiovisual sector for 2025-2027. The plan includes extending the training obligation to the audiovisual sector, as well as extending the conditionality of subventions to film festivals.

The legislative and regulatory framework governing the prevention and repression of SGBV is very detailed and continues to evolve. However, there remains a blurry area as to the impact of SGBV procedures on the production itself.

The uncovered situations and the gaps in protection

The implemented legal framework only covers SGBV situations that occur during film productions. However, it becomes more and more frequent for the revelation of prior (or subsequent) SGBV acts to impact film productions.

For example, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s film “Forever Young” was deprogrammed by several cinemas and withdrawn from the list of revelations for the 2023 Césars, following the indictment of the lead actor, Mr Sofiane Bennacer, for rape in previous relationships and domestic violence. And this applies to both on-set and off-set cases of SGBV, particularly in case of acts committed prior to filming. In reaction, an op-ed published in the newspaper Le Point denounced a media lynching impacting the movie.

Aside from the film distributor, this situation will also affect external stakeholders, such as partners and investors who have contributed to the film’s financing. In the event of an SGBV, the expected return on investment could be significantly reduced. For example, the $30 million movie “Anna” barely made $31 million in profits after its release (including $5 million in France) following accusations of sexual assault against the director and producer Luc Besson.

In the event of serious on-set SGBV revelations during shooting, this could lead to the film being suspended. To limit the financial impact on producers, the insurance companies MAIF and AREAS have introduced a free insurance clause on July 1^st, 2021, covering up to €500,000 in costs for 5 days of filming interruption. However, the clause requires to report the incident to the Prosecutor, which can take some time. In addition, the clause remains limited because it only covers a temporary interruption. As Olivier Henrard, Director of the CNC, points out, shooting may never resume, either because of “the break-up of the crew or the film’s reputation, now so tarnished that it is no longer economically viable”, and there is currently no insurance clause to cover such a situation (Commission of inquiry into violence in the film, audiovisual, performing arts, fashion and advertising sectors, Report of June 6^th, 2024). There is therefore a real financial threat.

When facing this, some companies are choosing transparency. This was the case for the movie “I swear”, during the shooting time, at a party, the director Samuel Theis had sexual intercourse with a technician who had not consented. The producer, Caroline Bonmarchand, and the distributor then decided to release the film by keeping him out of the spotlight (i.e., promoting the movie without him) and to publicly reveal what had happened. This position is unprecedented as it is the first time a SGBV situation has been handled in this way. However, on the day of its release, the film recorded only 3500 admissions – around ten per screening – which is still rather low. By April 30^th, 2025, one month after its release, the film had attracted almost 50 500 admissions.

The RESPECT group, led by producers Caroline Bonmarchand and Alice Girard, has published a report suggesting solutions for the distribution of “damaged” movies, i.e. those whose release has been affected by SGBV. The group is proposing the creation of a RESPECT certification, to be awarded to films on the basis of their “commitments, quality and exhaustiveness of the means implemented against SGBV” during the production. This would allow films in which SGBV incidents occurred, but where all the necessary preventive measures have been taken by the production company, to be separated from those in which this has not been done.

However, it should be noted that cinema exhibitors remain free to decide whether to program a film, and in some cases the facts happened prior to production, which prevents the implementation of measures by the production, which is impacted the same by revelations of SGBV. It seems necessary to take these measures even further, and to work with insurance companies to set up guarantee funds to cover this type of claim.

In this context, whether you are a victim, a “damaged” movie’s partner or an employer, it is wise to seek advice from a specialized lawyer to help you apply the appropriate legislation to your situation and thus limit your risks and your losses.