2024-01-26 09:53:21
The film director Carlos Vermut, author of films such as Manticore o Magical Girl, has been accused by three women of “sexual violence” in an investigation published by El País. The events cover an eight-year period, from 2014 to 2022, and they, whose names have preferred to remain anonymous, belonged to the film or culture industry. One was a student, another was an employee in one of her productions, and the third was a worker in the cultural sector. The filmmaker has spoken to the media and has claimed “not to have been aware of having committed sexual violence against any woman.” This newspaper has tried, without success, to speak with the filmmaker.
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None of the women then reported the acts allegedly committed by Vermut to the police. Two of them did not do so for fear of losing their jobs and the other for fear of not getting a job, as indicated in the report. The three women have signed an affidavit of their testimonies and presented evidence in this regard, the newspaper indicates.
The first case dates back to 2014, and in it the first of the women explains that after meeting him in a Madrid bar and kissing in the doorway, she invited him to come up to her house. Inside her house, he jumped on top of her and began to strangle her. She kicked him and after stopping the first time “he did the same thing again.” She also remembers that she asked him to put on a condom, something the filmmaker did not do. After the events, the woman wrote to a friend of hers to tell her what happened in a conversation confirmed by the same medium. That same morning she told another friend that she recommended she go to the police and the hospital, something she ultimately did not do. She did not report out of fear, since he “was related” to her “environment and work circle.” A relationship that was subsequently repeated sporadically, always with “struggles and sexual violence,” according to her story.
The second case reported in the information occurred two years later. This is a 21-year-old student to whom Carlos Vermut offered a job. It was he who contacted her to meet her, offering her help to enter the industry. From their first meeting there was a series of calls and messages until he proposed that he go to her house to analyze one of her films. Upon finishing it, she explains that he lunged at her without her consent and took off her bra, while she stood paralyzed, a reaction that angered the filmmaker. She later received an email from Vermut speaking to her “as if nothing had happened.” She responded by saying that she didn’t want to know anything more about him.
The third case occurred at the end of 2019, where this woman and Carlos Vermut had the first of several prolonged sexual encounters over several years “with non-consensual violence.” “There was never a prior or subsequent conversation regarding the terms of those relationships,” says the woman who describes humiliating physical practices and denigrating comments that made her feel “at a disadvantage and inferiority.” She also offered him a job that never materialized. In her last meeting, in 2022, Carlos Vermut prevented her from leaving the house so as not to leave him alone, always according to this woman’s story, and the next morning, it was he who sent her a message communicating the end of their relationship.
Respect, care and support for women who break the silence and say #SeAcabó. You are not alone.
And let us remind all women that if they are victims of sexual violence they have the right to specialized psychologists and lawyers even if they do not file a complaint.https://t.co/RMxDPGRZer
— Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) January 26, 2024
The filmmaker has met three times with the newspaper that published the accusations and has stressed in his interviews that he has “always practiced rough sex in a consensual manner.” “I think consent is very important. Another thing is that the person in his house later felt bad and perhaps at the time was afraid to say it. I can’t know that,” the filmmaker responded. His case is the first Me Too case in the Spanish film industry.
Sector reactions
The Association of Women Filmmakers (CIMA) has issued a statement to show its “support for all women who suffer harassment and who feel that their rights are violated.” “As professional women, we are especially concerned about the victims’ fear of reporting events that occur in cinema and audiovisuals. Sexual harassment is a manifestation of the abuse of power and, where power is in predominantly male hands, this harassment is directed against women and is one of the expressions of violence against them. Unfortunately, Spanish cinema and audiovisuals are not an exception to this reality and we believe that the time has come to say ENOUGH,” they say in their text, issued after the publication of the news about Carlos Vermut.
Furthermore, the association has announced that “to put an end to these situations, and promote an effective and active fight against harassment in the audiovisual industry, work is being done on measures such as the creation of protocols and the inclusion of specific clauses against sexual harassment within of employment contracts.” “In addition, at CIMA we are aware of the fear that people who go through these situations often suffer. For this reason, we want to be support and a place of trust for every woman who has suffered or is suffering any type of sexual violence, harassment or abuse of power within the industry, making our association available,” they point out in the statement.
From CIMA we want to show our support to all women who suffer harassment. As professional women, we are especially concerned about the fear of victims to report events that occur in cinema and audiovisuals. pic.twitter.com/XfzVyVw8K8
— CIMA – Association of Women Filmmakers (@CIMAcineastas) January 26, 2024
For its part, the Actors’ Union, in statements to Europa Press, has assured that “they hope that the complaints follow legal channels.” “Although they may often be ineffective or not as satisfactory as they should be, they are the only authentic guarantee for verifying facts and thus being able to prevent them from occurring in the future,” the General Secretariat of the union said. Furthermore, the entity has confirmed that, in the open processes that exist in the Union of Actors and Actresses regarding this type of complaints, “there is no complainant regarding the Vermouth case, specifically.”
Furthermore, they have specified that it is up to the victims to “make their testimony public or not” and that the Union tries to ensure that the complaints are based on “empathy, discretion and respect for the victim”, since they understand that being a sector characterized by “intermittency”, the fear “is stronger”.
Who has also reacted to the publication of the information is the producer Enrique López Lavigne, who worked with him on Who will sing to you, that through a post on the of Cinema, where nothing or almost nothing is what it seems.” In a response to the publication he added that “ignoring that it has been published is not only not good, but it is turning our back on a reality that has materialized in a wild way for all of us who live in this world.” Shortly afterward he deleted the post he previously had already been picked up by Europa Press.
Thanks to the three women who have spoken, thanks to the journalists who have listened.
I hope you feel that your union is going to take care of you (not punish you) for speaking out. I hope you feel it and anyone who finds themselves in that situation feels it. https://t.co/AFJ5adYchx— LeonorWatling (@LeonorWatling1) January 26, 2024
Politicians, filmmakers, actresses and actors from Spanish cinema have also expressed their opinions on social networks. The former Minister of Equality Irene Montero has been one of the first to show her support for the women who have spoken. “Respect, care and support for women who break the silence and say #It’sAcabó. You are not alone,” she said and recalled the public services for victims of sexual violence. The actress Leonor Watling has thanked the women for their courage and has asked that “I hope you feel that your union is going to take care of you (not punish) for speaking out.”
The producer Agustín Almodóvar, the filmmakers Laura Hojman, Montxo Armendariz and Carlota Pereda; Eduardo Noriega or the actresses Vicky Luengo, Sara Sálamo or Susana Abaitua have also expressed their support for women. Álex Lafuente, distributor of his latest film, has also written on the same social network: “Difficult to read this, because of the terrible nature of what it says and because of Carlos’s surprising responses. “All my support to these three women who have suffered this violence and abuse.”
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