Facing Industry Backlash, Organizers of Harassment Prevention Seminars in France Push Back Against ‘Old World Mentality’

variety.com:

Ben Croll In the wake of the Weinstein scandal and in an effort to quash the endemic issue of sexual harassment hardly limited to any one country, France’s Nation Film Board (CNC) launched a three-point plan that would require beneficiaries of financial support from the public film body to undergo sensitivity training sessions, to author detailed preventions protocols and to keep counselors on set.Though the plan authored in 2019 was targeted at senior level producers and executives – the heads of production outfits asking for public support, in short – the program has subsequently expanded to encompass a wider industry swath.

In 2021, the film board tasked the Superior Technical Image Commission (CST) trade guild with running and organizing four separate sessions of differing lengths and focuses, aimed at the wider film production community.

Offering expanded training plans targeting producers, HR representatives, and production manager, among others, the CST held its first two sessions earlier this month, drawing a decidedly mixed response on social media.Soit cette formation est utile et pourquoi la limiter à une seule profession montrée du doigt , soit elle ne sert à rien, et pourquoi nous l’imposer ?

https://t.co/LT30U65PZt— JeanLabadie (@LabadieLePacte) January 22, 2022“Either this training is useful and why limit it to a single profession, or it is useless, and why impose it on us,” producer and distributor Jean Labadie of Le Pacte tweeted.Mardi dernier, j’étais au CNC pour suivre la formation « prévenir et agir contre les violences sexistes et sexuelles au travail », sans laquelle les producteurs sont désormais privés des aides de l’état.