[ad_1]
A Spanish production company is financing a new movie from Woody Allen, despite adopted daughter Dylan Farrow’s longstanding claim that the writer-director sexually assaulted her when she was 7.
Mediapro, a Barcelona-based independent company, has agreed to fund and produce Allen’s upcoming movie, according to a report Thursday in The New York Times and confirmed Friday in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Representatives for Mediapro, which previously worked with Allen on his Oscar-winning films “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Midnight in Paris,” did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.
“We have a 10-year relationship with Mr. Allen and, like all projects we produce, we judge the creator by its work,” the company said in a statement to the Times. “All of our projects have a unique personality, and we support all types of artistic voices and ideas and remain committed to producing well-defined and creative projects for audiences worldwide.”
Farrow has long claimed that Allen molested her in 1992, when she was 7. Allen, 83, has vigorously denied the accusation and has continued to make movies and receive recognition for his work.
The abuse allegation first arose in an acrimonious custody battle between Allen and then-partner Mia Farrow, who Allen accused of “coaching” her daughter to accuse him. In 2014, Dylan Farrow detailed her story in a New York Times open letter.
The allegation resurfaced in 2018 as the Me Too movement brought greater awareness to sexual misconduct.
Allen hasn’t completely escaped consequences. Amazon Studios canceled a deal to distribute his most recent movies, prompting the director to sue the company for $68 million.
Spanish media outlets have reported that Allen aims to film his next movie this summer and is currently scouting locations in Spain’s Basque Country. A Mediapro spokeswoman told Variety that “the project is still at an initial step and it is too early to talk about locations or other details.”
Another Allen movie, “A Rainy Day in New York,” shot in 2017, has yet to be released, after Amazon shelved it.
A number of actors have said that they will no longer work with Allen, including Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig and Mira Sorvino.
“A Rainy Day in New York” actors Rebecca Hall, Timothée Chalamet and Griffin Newman announced last year that they would donate their salaries to anti-sexual assault advocacy organizations, including Time’s Up and RAINN.
Other collaborators are standing by Allen. Oscar winner Javier Bardem, who co-starred in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” said last year: “I don’t agree with the public lynching that he’s been receiving, and if Woody Allen called me to work with him again I’d be there tomorrow morning. He’s a genius.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
[ad_2]
Source link