THE STORY BEHIND OUR 2024 POSTER

The Sacramento French Film Festival strives to have its "finger on the pulse” of French cinema, and in this spirit, our 2024 poster is a tribute to French actress Judith Godrèche, whose recent, powerful testimony and rape accusations against acclaimed directors Jacques Doillon and Benoit Jacquot have revived the #MeToo movement in France, encouraged other victims to speak out, and shaken up not only the French film industry but French society as a whole.

Both directors worked with Godrèche at the beginning of her career in the late 1980s, when she was a teenager. Jacquot, in particular, "discovered" Godrèche and immediately started a very public affair with her when she was only 14 and he 39. Godrèche was finally able to leave the relationship at 20. Only within the last year has she spoken out publicly, having finally come to terms with how young she really was at the time and the nature of those relationships. If you want to learn more about her story, the New York Times published an article a few days ago that you can find here.

The SFFF has never presented films by Jacquot or Doillon, but we acknowledge that over the years we have presented a few films by filmmakers or starring actors who have since been accused of sexual misconduct. Going forward, the Sacramento French Film Festival pledges to be more considerate of any such allegations when working on our film selection.

The story is ongoing...
On May 2nd, thanks to the courageous and powerful testimony of actress Judith Godrèche (featured on our poster, read more about it below), the French Assemblée Nationale (House of Representatives) unanimously voted for the creation of a commission to investigate sexual abuse in the French movie industry.

The 2024 SFFF Poster artwork is by San Francisco artist Galine Tumasyan.

Find the 2024 Program HERE!