Controversial film in Cannes line-up

PARIS

A new French film was added to the Cannes Film Festival line-up on Monday despite reports of inappropriate behavior on set, including the use of a child in a sex scene.

“The Return” by director Catherine Corsini was stripped of 680,000 euros ($750,000) in state support (out of a 4.7-million-euro budget) after it was discovered that the makers had left out the sex scene featuring an under-16 actress from the script when they applied for funding, the National Center of Cinematography told AFP last week.

It was nonetheless added to the line-up for next month’s festival along with another French film, “Black Flies” by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire.

Corsini’s inclusion extends the record number of women competing for the top prize Palme d’Or to seven (out of 21 entries). The previous record of five was set last year.

Among several other late additions announced on April 24 was a Midnight Screening of Ben Affleck’s new sci-fi thriller “Hypnotic” by cult director Robert Rodriguez.

Paris prosecutors told AFP that it had received a complaint in November 2022 about the treatment of a minor in “The Return”, and that an initial investigation was launched.

French media have also reported complaints that Corsini, 66, was verbally abusive during the shoot.

She previously told the French daily Le Parisien that the failure to declare the sex scene was “an administrative error” and confirmed “tensions on the set” but denied there was any “verbal or physical violence on the part of Catherine, nor in general on set.”

“The Return” is not the only controversial inclusion at this year’s festival, which opens with Johnny Depp’s comeback film, “Jeanne du Barry,” whose French director Maiwenn is under investigation for allegedly assaulting a journalist.

But it also has a star-packed line-up featuring out-of-competition premieres for the new Indiana Jones and Pixar movies, as well as the latest from Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”