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French PM butt of joke as actress strips nude at French cinema awards

Amid calls by several particpants for France's locked-down cinemas and theatres to reopen, French actress Corinne Masiero stripped naked on stage at France's yearly César film awards ceremony with a message of protest for French PM Jean Casteix on her bared back which read 'Give us back art, Jean', phonetically also meaning 'Give us our money back'.

La rédaction de Mediapart

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A French actress protested naked at a César Awards ceremony dominated by demands the government do more to support culture during the coronavirus pandemic, reports BBC News.

Corinne Masiero, 57, wore a donkey costume over a blood-stained dress before stripping on stage at France's equivalent of the Oscars.

Cinemas have been shut in France for more than three months.

The best film award at the ceremony went to Albert Dupontel's dark comedy Adieu Les Cons (Goodbye Morons).

The film - which depicts a desperate search by a seriously ill woman for her child - won seven Césars, including one for the best director.

Best foreign film went to Denmark's Another Round, directed by Thomas Vinterberg, which shows a group of friends trying to improve their lives by maintaining a permanent level of alcohol in their blood.

Masiero was invited to Friday's socially-distanced ceremony to present the award for the best costumes.

But she shocked those present in the concert hall by stripping naked on stage to reveal the message "No culture, no future" written across her torso.

And appealing to French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Masiero had another slogan on her back which can be translated as: "Give us back art, Jean" - or in an alternative phonetic reading: "Give us our money back."

See more of this report from BBC News.