French film director Jean-Claude Brisseau appeared in a Paris courtroom Thursday to defend himself on charges of sexual assault and harassment. Four young actresses claim he made them masturbate as part of auditions conducted between 1996 and 2001.

The director, credited with discovering Vanessa Paradis, "denies the charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault, insisting in newspaper interviews that the 'erotic auditions', held between 1996 and 2001 for his 2002 feature Choses Secrètes, were justified artistically and 'indispensable' to his work."