According to Elle magazine, which published the testimonies of nine women, most of the incidents reported date back to the 1980s and 1990s and were never brought to the attention of the judicial authorities

On the eve of the Cannes Film Festival, nine women, most of whom have chosen to remain anonymous, are accusing Alain Sarde, a renowned French film producer, of sexually assaulting or raping them when they were minors or young actresses. This was revealed in the women’s magazine Elle on Monday.

Most of the events reported date back to the 1980s and 1990s and have not been reported, according to the magazine.

An actress, identified under the pseudonym ‘Elsa’, who appeared in television series from the 1990s to 2000s, recounts how the producer, now aged 72, allegedly raped her in 1985, at the age of 15, on the pretext of a professional meeting for a role, in his private flat in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Other women, whose names have been changed, allege rape, attempted rape or behaviour that could be likened to procuring.

Her lawyer denounced the allegations as ‘spurious’.

Actresses who claim to have seen their careers hampered and to have found no support from their agents, to whom they sometimes confided, describe a similar pattern: invitations to the producer’s home, attempts at seduction, gifts of chocolates, followed by assaults.

In Elle, Me Laffont dismisses these accusations as ‘false, attributing to his client behaviour of which he disapproves and which is totally foreign to him. (Alain Sarde) categorically denies them and asserts that he has never used violence or coercion in his relationships with women, stressing that their consent has always been essential to him”, adds his lawyer.

In another case, the producer was indicted for ‘rape’ in 1997, as part of a pimping scandal involving political, artistic and sporting figures in France and abroad. His case was dismissed almost two years after he was accused by two young women who were heard as witnesses in the dismantling of a luxury prostitution ring in Paris.

Alain Sarde began his film career working with Jean Yanne before collaborating with Roman Polanski. He went on to produce films for André Téchiné, Bertrand Tavernier and Jean-Luc Godard.

The 77th Cannes Film Festival opens on Tuesday in a climate of rumours linked to #MeToo, at a time when people are speaking out, thanks in particular to the actress Judith Godrèche, who has accused two leading figures in cinema d’auteur, Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, of rape.

On Wednesday, Godrèche will present a short film, ‘Moi aussi’, made in collaboration with a thousand victims of sexual violence who responded to her appeal.