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Film-maker Jacques Audiard apologises after Mexican outrage over Emilia Pérez

The director of the award-winning musical about a trans cartel boss has said the film isn’t intended to be realistic, but he is sorry if things in it ‘seem shocking’

A Spanish-language musical about a cartel boss who transitions to a woman, starring transgender actor Karla Sofía Gascón opposite Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez premiered in Mexico City on Wednesday before its Mexican release on 23 January. The film, for which Audiard is the sole credited writer and which was shot in a studio near Paris, attracted considerable criticism for its lack of involvement of Mexican cast and crew, as well as for its cartel-related subject matter. Director and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto called it “completely inauthentic” and “troubling” while film critic Gaby Meza suggested it “exploit[ed] a current tragedy in Mexico, of drug trafficking and of those who have disappeared due to violence, in order to generate an entertainment product”.

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