French Director Catherine Corsini’s Film Was Removed From Cannes Competition After Complaints

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Catherine Corsini was meant to be the seventh female director in competition at the 72nd edition of Cannes with her film “Le Retour” (The Return).

But her competition slot is on hold for now after news broke about several alleged inappropriate incidents during filming. The night before the press conference on April 13, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux confirmed to the director that she would have a competition slot, but shortly before the start of the announcement, the festival’s administration board decided to hold off on including the title as part of the lineup.

The delay came after the board discovered that Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors, according to French reports.

Fremaux told Variety the “administration board wished to gather more information about the situation around the film before taking a decision on whether to include the film in its Official Selection.” Contacted by Variety, the film’s producer, Elisabeth Perez, called the accusations “malevolent rumors,” and said these allegations should not “lead to the life or death of a film.” Nor should they “take away its right to be selected for Cannes,” she asserted.