VENICE: French filmmaker Luc Besson returned to the spotlight months after he was cleared of rape charges. On Thursday, he marked his presence at the Venice Film Festival, where his film ‘Dogman’ was screened.
Besson attended the world premiere of ‘Dogman’ alongside cast members such as leading man Caleb Landry Jones.
While speaking about his film, Besson thanked his wife and producer, Virginie Besson-Silla, People reported.
“Virginie, my producer, she’s a tough cookie, believe me,” Besson said at one point in the press conference. “She helped me a lot on the editing. She’s always very cold about it. She doesn’t want to see all the dailies. She wants to stay out, you know, to be able, at the end, to give comments.”
In June, the ‘Lucy’ director was cleared of assault charges alleged by actress Sand Van Roy in France.
“This decision confirms the dismissal in favour of Luc Besson and confirms all the decisions of the last five years which have found him not guilty,” Besson’s attorney, Thierry Marembert, said in a statement at the time.
“It therefore puts a definitive end to this procedure initiated in 2018, during which Luc Besson was systematically cleared by all the magistrates who examined the case,” Marembert said, adding “As a lawyer, I welcome this exemplary procedure, which has allowed the manifestation of the truth which is that Luc Besson is innocent.”
‘Dogman’ marks Besson’s first film since 2019’s ‘Anna’, as well as his first since being officially cleared of sexual assault charges in France. (ANI)