French actor Gérard Depardieu stands trial in Paris over sexual assault allegations

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

French actor Gérard Depardieu went on trial Monday in Paris on charges of sexually assaulting two women on a movie set, in a case seen as a potential watershed for the #MeToo movement in France.

Depardieu, 76, is accused of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant director during filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters).

The actor faces up to five years in prison and a 75,000 euros ($81,000 US) fine if convicted.

Depardieu, who denies any wrongdoing, told the judges that he was prepared to answer the court's questions.

"We will be able to show in an impartial, objective and incontestable manner that all of the accusations are lies," his lawyer Jérémie Assous told journalists massed outside the courtroom.

"The truth will be obvious and the truth is on our side," he said.

Depardieu's long and storied career has turned the trial into a post-#MeToo test of the willingness of France and its movie industry to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable.

Depardieu has been a darling of French cinemagoers for decades and was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

But his alleged boorish behaviour off-screen has also long made headlines. He has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some others were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

Feminist and historian Florence Montreynaud described Depardieu's court appearance as "a historic moment" for women's rights, as she joined other campaigners who demonstrated outside the court. A dozen chanted "Sexist violence, complicit judicial system" as they danced to techno music.

"Times are changing. #MeToo has swept through. At last, mentalities are changing," Montreynaud said to French broadcaster BFMTV.

The trial also follows in the wake of the historic case last year involving Gisèle Pelicot, whose bravery put the spotlight on sexual violence in France. She demanded that the drugging-and-rape trial for 51 men tried for a horrific catalogue of abuse on her be held in open court, arguing that doing so would help make shame change sides.

France has often been ambivalent — even resistant — toward the #MeToo movement. While Hollywood saw powerful men fall swiftly and publicly, the French film industry was slower to respond. Some dismissed #MeToo as an American export incompatible with French values, citing concerns over free expression and what they viewed as an erosion of flirtation culture.