France Launches Intimacy Coordinator Course at Cannes

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- Amarres – The director filmed three back‑to‑back sex scenes on a Parisian houseboat and relied on intimacy coordinator Nathalie Allison to guide the actors and achieve realistic intimacy.
- Intimacy coordinators – Since the late 2010s they have become standard on high‑profile TV productions such as Normal People, Bridgerton and Heated Rivalry, acting as choreographers, mediators and advocates for safe, consensual scenes.
- AFDAS – On 15 May at Cannes, AFDAS, together with the film‑technician union CST, formally introduced France’s first intimacy‑coordinator training program, marking official recognition of the role in French cinema.
- CST – The partnership with AFDAS highlights a shift from viewing intimacy coordination as an Anglo‑Saxon import to embracing it as a professional discipline in France.
- France – The Cannes ceremony marked the first official recognition of intimacy coordinators in French cinema, shifting the practice from a niche import to an accepted professional discipline.
Why it matters: Actors gain clear safety protocols, directors get a proven method for authentic intimacy, and French film sets now have a formal framework to ensure safe, consensual scenes.
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