French star Adele Haenel accuses director of sexual harassment

French star Adele Haenel accuses director of sexual harassment

In Celine Sciamma's "Portrait of a Lady on Fire", which won the screenwriting prize at Cannes, she plays an aristocratic young woman who falls in love with the artist hired to paint her portrait. In "The Devils," shot when she was 12, Haenel starred as one of a pair of runaway siblings.

She said that, after the film was completed and went on the festival circuit, Ruggia continued to make overtures to her until she was 15, creating an environment of "permanent sexual harassment" through unwanted touching of her torso and thighs and kisses on her neck. Haenel stopped acting during that period, until she was cast in Sciamma's "Water Lilies" ("Naissance des pieuvres").

Ruggia's only directing credit after "The Devils" has been for 2011's "In Turmoil". He has been developing a new project with characters named Chloe and Joseph - the names of the leading characters in "The Devils".

Bertrand Faivre, a producer on both "The Devils" and "In Turmoil" who has been working with Ruggia on the new project, said he curtailed his involvement on the project over the summer after learning that Mediapart was investigating possible misconduct by Ruggia.

Faivre also said Haenel told him several years ago that Ruggia had "misbehaved" with her, but she did not specify what the alleged misconduct was. In the report, Haenel said she hoped her story would help bring an end to the abuse of women and children and the impunity of their assailants.

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