NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Five years after revealed , a film that dramatizes the dogged fight to uncover years of allegations against the movie mogul, premiered Thursday at the New York Film Festival.
The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who helped uncover the many allegations against Weinstein. When news of their impending report was first leaked by Variety, Weinstein at the time commented: 鈥淭he story sounds so good, I want to buy the movie rights.鈥�
Instead, the movie that would become 鈥淪he Said鈥� was adapted from about the investigation. It unspooled Thursday at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, with numerous women who came forward to tell their story in attendance, including Ashley Judd. Weinstein, meanwhile, is for 11 counts of rape and sexual assault. He has pled not guilty.
The 70-year-old Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2020 for committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape.
One of the loudest of the film's numerous standing ovations was for Judd, whose on-the-record account led The Times' first report and whose bravery emboldened many others to speak out. Other women who came forward were also in the audience. Judd plays herself in the film.
鈥淚 just want to remember when I was speaking to my mother about all this, she said, 鈥極h, you go get 鈥檈m, honey,鈥� Judd said in an on-stage conversation following the film, recalling that her father was with her after her 1996 meeting with Weinstein at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel. 鈥淲hen I came down from the hotel room, he knew something devastating had just happened to me by the look on my face.鈥�
鈥淚t was very validating that someone finally wanted to listen and do something about it,鈥� Judd added. 鈥淭he film was the next step in that.鈥�
That 鈥淪he Said鈥� was premiering in New York at a festival Weinstein once frequented made the evening particularly poignant. Eugene Hernandez, executive director of the festival, noted that 鈥渋t's a room Harvey Weinstein has been in.鈥�
The movie, too, has been a subject in Weinstein's current trial. During pre-trial hearings, Weinstein鈥檚 attorneys requested that the trial be delayed because of the release of 鈥淪he Said,鈥� arguing that it could influence jurors. Universal Pictures will open 鈥淪he Said鈥� in theaters Nov. 18. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench rejected the motion.
But the array of women on stage 鈥� including the stars, the Times reporters, director Maria Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz 鈥� made a powerful statement. 鈥淪he Said鈥� follows the ups and downs of Kantor and Twohey's persistent investigation, battling against a decades-old wall-of-silence, a litany of NDAs and Weinstein's own belligerent responses.
鈥淭he number of people who shared information with us was relatively small, and yet their impact was so large,鈥� Kantor. said 鈥淲e hope this film helps people remember that these personal stories really can make an enormous difference.鈥�
The Times鈥� reporting on Weinstein, along with that of The New Yorker, was the catalyst not just for Weinstein鈥檚 dramatic downfall but that would spread throughout Hollywood and many other industries.
鈥淪he Said鈥� follows in the tradition of investigative journalism films like 鈥淎ll the President's Men鈥� and 鈥淪potlight,鈥� with the notable difference that its protagonists are women balancing their 24/7 work lives with their young families. The film takes care to show the reporters as hard-working professionals not so unlike the young, ambitious women Weinstein preyed on.
Kazan took a moment to reflect on what's changed in Hollywood in the five years since. There are now and a more open conversation about gender imbalance. But, she said, 鈥渢here's so much change left to be effected.鈥�
鈥淎nybody reading the newspaper headlines since let's just say the beginning of May would know that we're still living in an oppressive patriarchy,鈥� said Kazan. 鈥淭hat's not special to our industry.鈥�
Judd added that, thanks to SAG-Aftra agreements, auditions no longer happen in hotel rooms. But she also made the point that something deeper has changed within women.
鈥淚 have reframed the experiences that I have had to understand that they were, in fact, harassment and assault, when I had previously minimized them,鈥� Judd said. 鈥淚 think that the individual transformation a lot of us have had as a result of what Tarana started and as a result of this reporting, has allowed women's consciousness to transform and to set boundaries and reclaim autonomy and say, 鈥楾his is the up with which I will not put. This is the hill on which I鈥檓 willing to die.' 鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
