Maria Schrader’s Weinstein Film Celebrated at New York World Premiere

Red carpet for German director Maria Schrader’s “She Said” in New York: The film drama about the exposure of the Weinstein scandal by two journalists had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on Thursday evening (local time).

Schrader (57, “Unorthodox”) and her team received thunderous applause. The director was joined by lead actresses Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, as well as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor.

Twohey (played by Mulligan) and Kantor (Kazan) made their revelations about the sexual assault of film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017 after a difficult investigation. The film shows the reporters meeting intimidated victims, visiting Weinstein employees, fighting with lawyers, being followed — and discussing with regulators whether the story should be published.

Together with Ronan Farrow of New Yorker magazine, they won a Pulitzer Prize for their revelations. The allegations of abuse against Weinstein by dozens of women sparked the global MeToo movement in 2017. The producer was eventually sentenced in New York in 2020 to 23 years in prison for, among other things, rape. He is currently on trial for sexual assault in Los Angeles.

For the investigative New York Times article, actress Ashley Judd and other women publicly described Weinstein’s abuse for the first time. Judd and other activists attended the New York premiere of “She Said.” After the theatrical release in the US in mid-November, the film will also be shown in German cinemas in December. (aeg/sda/dpa)