The director of “Hippocrates”, accused of voyeurism and looting, defends himself in a press release

On June 19, Thomas Lilti was targeted by two Médiapart investigations. The director responded three days later in a press release posted on Instagram.

Their names are Clara, the other Lila — assumed names. One is a friend of the director, the other a screenwriter, both crossed paths with Thomas Lilti years apart. The first accuses him of having filmed her naked without her knowledge, the other of having plundered her work, reveal two articles from the investigative media, Médiapartpublished on June 19.

Three days later, in a press release written by his lawyers, then posted on his Instagram account, the doctor director defended himself from these various accusations. His teams talk about “pseudo-revelations from Mediapart (which) do not seem to contribute to the growth of a ‘debate of general interest’ which is nevertheless necessary.” But they also choose to lift the anonymity from which the two women named by the newspaper benefited.

While he ceased his activity as a doctor in 2012, Thomas Lilti enjoyed success two years later as a filmmaker, thanks to his second feature film Hippocrates which is inspired by his experience as a medical intern.

In 2018, Canal + broadcast its eponymous series, which was very well received by the public and critics.

Below, a photo of Thomas Lilti receiving the Valois d’or at the Angoulême festival in 2014.

On his advice, Clara underwent treatment leaving her confused, foggy and very tired. Despite the side effects, Clara decides to continue the medication: “She trusted him completely, he was a doctor”, declares one of her relatives who was seeing her at the time.

Two years ago, Clara decided to clean her computer. When she scrolls through the files on the screen, she discovers videos in which she appears naked, as well as spy camera software, Spy Cam, installed. But these images reveal another presence, that of Thomas Lilti:

“I made an improbable discovery on my old desktop computer that I rarely use. Around ten videos, taken without my knowledge from the computer, where we sometimes very clearly see Thomas turning the camera on and off. In these videos, you see me undressing in the morning or evening, systematically naked”, she wrote in an email to one of her friends.

Files that the investigative media was able to consult. Clara is visible on two files.

Each time, she appears naked, dressing or undressing, while the director is seen, at the beginning and end of the video to turn the camera on or off. In the first file, as described by Médiapart, it seems nebulous.

In his Instagram press release, Thomas Lilti claims that it is his former partner: “This woman is presented by Mediapart as ‘Clara’, ‘a close friend’, but the article of course fails to specify that it is in reality his former partner, with whom he lived for more than six years.“The ex-doctor also refutes”totally have installed or used spy cam software”.

According to a relative cited by Mediapart which says “upset”, the treatment made her confused and very tired:

“She was very hesitant to take this treatment because she did not suffer from the symptoms of this disease, and knew that the consequences would be unfortunate. But Thomas insisted”.

The publication reports several testimonies according to which Thomas Lilti used his authority as a doctor to exercise control over his colleagues – all women. The director interfered in their “privacy” according to the media, by prescribing “thanks to his doctor’s card“anxiolytics, blood tests, going so far as to perform an examination. On this subject, the director claims to have simply responded to the request of “his loved ones when they expressed concerns about their state of health.”

Her name is Lila. In 2008, she was a single mother living on the outskirts of Paris. Lila begins writing Golds of the Republic. It’s the story of an Algerian doctor who works as an intern in a Parisian hospital. A story that would become a few years later Hippocratescrowned with six nominations for the Césars. Thomas Lilti admitted to having sent the story to two co-writers claiming to be the author. The text was then sent to a production company, without Lila knowing anything about it. This secret collaboration would have lasted for years. She also worked without being credited or paid on the writing of Country doctorhis third feature film, as well as on several episodes of the series Heart Ocean.

Below is a photo of Vincent Lacoste and Reda Kateb in the film Hippocrates.

Always according to Médiapartanother woman who participated in the screenplay of Country doctor would have suffered the same fate. The latter decides to contact the production company June 31 Movies in order to get out of his situation. If the newspaper claims that Lilti recognized Lila’s participation, the press release claims the opposite:

“The Hippocrates scenario results from his idea, which he had already developed in 2008 with Julien Lilti. A 24-page file was submitted to the CNC in June 2009.”

Mediapart’s investigations also reveal degraded working conditions for several screenwriters and accusations of verbal abuse on the set of Hippocrates.

According to the newspaper, several disputes gave rise to memorandums of understanding. Thomas Lilti’s lawyers contest the idea of ​​systematic recourse to these agreements:

“Thomas Lilti is only concerned by two transactional protocols of a very different nature.”

At a time when the 7th art is experiencing a renewal of its codes – Nastassja Kinski proved it to us at the beginning of the month by pushing Wim Wenders to “refine your look” on the way of filming young women — here, it is the question of authority that is called into question. These cases question the relationships of authority within cinema, between artistic power, recognition of writing work and medical authority. They tell the story of the still fragile place that women occupy in this environment.

The release of the director’s next film with Léa Drucker and François Civil is scheduled for 2027. While his biopic project on star chef Bernard Loiseau was recently announced.