French Oscars Ban Nominees Accused Of Sexual Assault: Why It Matters?

France's highest honourable film award ceremony César Film Awards is due next month and the board and jury are taking significant steps to ensure they set the right example while listing nominations for the same. Out of respect for all sexual abuse survivors in the industry, César Film Awards have decided to ban all nominees who have faced allegations of a sexual offence.

The César Film Awards, also popularly called the French 'Oscars', announced that any person investigated for a sex crime will be barred from nominations for the 2023 award ceremony.

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César Awards ban Sex offenders

To be held in February, the French version of the Academy Awards announced that they will not disrespect the modesty of any survivor by nominating their perpetrators to any award category.

This decision denotes that French actor Sofiane Bennacer will be excluded from all nominations as he is currently facing an investigation for a rape accusation, an allegation he denies completely. Bennacer is popularly known for films like Forever Young, Love Song for Tough Guys, and The Intern.

25-year-old Bennacer was nominated for his role in Les Amandiers (titled Forever Young globally), prior to the police launching a probe into investigating his role in a case of rape.

This move by the awards committee also stems from an incident dating back to 2020 when filmmaker Roman Polanski won an award for Best Director during the same time he was wanted in the United States for a statutory rape allegation.

Why more industries must follow suit

While more people are coming forward in support of sexual assault survivors across the entertainment industry, there's still less transparency with respect to the accountability of abusers. Some alleged sexual offenders have been protected for years despite their stories being out in the open, to an extent that they continued to star in film projects.

As César Academy removes Bennacer from the nominations list, their step towards changing rules around eligibility even with regard to attendance seems like the right direction.

"Any entertainment personality who has been charged with any kind of sex crime will be barred from attending the ceremony going forward."

Any kind of movement requires solidarity if major industries are to undergo change. Back in 2020, when Polanski was nominated in the Best Director category, the entire board at the awards had resigned. Not just this, several female actors walked out of the ceremony after he won the award.

With French Awards taking an extreme step to restructure the legibility criteria and reframe the guidelines, there's a lesson for other major industries as well to plan ahead so the modesty of the survivors' fighting their abusers is protected.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 25, 2023.