New York Film Festival World Premiere She said , adapted from the book of the same name by The New York Times investigation of Harvey Weinstein Decades of alleged sexual misconduct was an “unforgettable moment,” director Maria Schrader said Thursday night.
Schrader said she and the team behind the Universal film she was still working on four weeks ago had hoped the film would premiere in New York.
“That’s actually what we wanted, because that’s where it belongs,” she told The Hollywood Reporter Before the premiere of She Said .
The film was screened at the prestigious Fall Film Festival, frequented by Weinstein himself during his heyday. The world premiere took place as Weinstein’s Los Angeles sexual assault trial began. Earlier, he was convicted of rape 2020 in a trial in New York.
But Thursday night, the focus was on women, and the red carpet event not only hosted many of the female characters behind the film, including The Times working reporters about 2017 exposure, and the women who accused Weinstein of misconduct.
Survivors in attendance included Ashley Judd, whose account of record was exposed by Times key components and participated in a panel discussion after the film screening.
Remembering Weinstein, Judd, she had been devastated by her mother’s death earlier this year Naomi Judd seemed to get emotional when she recalled her mom’s support when she decided to come forward.
“I just want to remember when I was talking to my mom about all this and she said, ‘Oh, you go get them, honey,’ sweet way, sweet to the ear The tone…not the punishing bone in her body,” Judd said in a post-screening panel. “She was just mesmerized by my audacity, and I heard about it later from friends.”
Judd even played himself in the movie and said that while filming She “has been telling the story of what happened to her and Weinstein at the Peninsula Hotel “.
The film also features Sarah Ann Massey, another Weinstein accuser. While Masse’s personal experience (she says he sexually assaulted her while being interviewed to care for his children) isn’t included in the film, she plays business journalist Emily Steel.
Massey, who started the “Hire Survivor Hollywood” program, said she had hoped Universal would hire survivors for the film.
“I actually talked to a couple of people at the company and they all accepted, but then I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Massey told THR before the premiere. “A few months later, a lot of us got calls and said we auditioned for the film. I didn’t expect to audition, I just hoped they would include some survivors. So I’m obviously excited, and for the Auditioned for the role and got it.”
Focusing and identifying women who spoke out against Weinstein was key to writing the script, screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz said ahead of the premiere TellTHR, while Schrader feels “obligated to get the details right and be fair to the sensitivities of the subject.”
“The biggest challenge is to pay tribute to all those involved in speaking out and investigating,” Lenkiewicz said. “So the challenge was to accurately portray reporters and great journalism and show the sheer bravery and tenacity of the survivors.”
Lenkiewicz and actors Andre Brauch , who plays Dean Baquet, executive editor of the former era (Dean Baquet), who said they were excited to make a film aimed at exposing Hollywood misconduct.
“Working in Hollywood makes you want to tell the story more because you want to be able to work in an industry that doesn’t [condend] this horrible behavior,” Lenkiewicz said.
Braugher added that he felt the film “has the potential to really tell an untold story, a story you just can’t get from a TV show.”
Jennifer Ehle as Laura Madden, a former Weinstein employee, according to reported Times came to light, he urged her to massage – she said she hoped the audience would take away “people standing The power of a collective voice together, supporting each other.”
“I think it’s very important, especially now, for all of us to realize that no matter what we What to believe, if we all stand together with others who believe the same things can change practices and outcomes, or at least make things happen,” she said, adding that the film also demonstrated “the power of investigative journalism and the protection of Journalism and press freedom.”
In terms of what has changed since The Times , Wen The Stan investigation opens the floodgates for other survivors of sexual misconduct to come forward, 1235145308 Zoe Kazan , who plays Jodi Kantor, Judd and Others point to more open dialogue and a broader understanding of what is and isn’t acceptable behavior.
But Kazan said, “There are still many changes to be made.”
“Since we said Anyone who has read the headlines since the beginning of May will know that we still live in an oppressive patriarchy,” she said during a post-screening panel discussion, seemingly referring to the leak of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Still one of the earliest plaintiffs in Weinstein’s opinion, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez , he told the NYPD at 1235145308 Weinstein attacked her, which shows that she was and will continue to be against the better The future is full of hope.
“[at 2015,] I’m basically the only one One speaks out. I’m alone and I feel like I can’t do anything, but I don’t know why I still have hope in my heart, I’m still doing the right thing and something will happen,” Gutierrez said. “I never thought this would happen, put it in the media, talk about it widely, get more people to come forward and try to get justice through the laws that are going on, because now they’re trying to change, in At the root, there is something wrong. With the #MeToo movement and the empowerment of women, we are more likely to try and fix what happened in the past.”
