Beth de Araújo Condemns Cornell Rape Case in Breakthrough Award Speech

Beth de Araújo, director of "Josephine," used her acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Association's Celebración of Cinema & Television 2026 to condemn the handling of a recent rape case at Cornell University.

Accepting the Breakthrough Director Award at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills on Friday afternoon, de Araújo told the audience she had discarded her prepared remarks. "I had something very different planned to say today, but it's been a heart wrenching week and I know my collaborators would want me to use his time to talk about it," she said.

She thanked presenter Jason Blum for his kind words and for producing her directorial debut, "Soft and Quiet." She then began to tear up as she connected the motivations behind "Josephine" to the Cornell case.

"Josephine," her sophomore feature, won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the Dramatic Competition at Sundance this year — a rare double distinction.

In her speech, lightly edited and condensed, de Araújo traced the film's origins to a childhood memory. "When I was eight, my father and I interrupted a rape in the park," she said. "I started writing 'Josephine' when I was 27. Just after the first time my father and I ever discussed what had happened, I asked him why didn't he explain to me what rape was when I asked on the day?"

She framed the film around an unanswerable question. "How does a father explain to his eight year old daughter what rape is? It's an impossible task," she said. "You can't even tell your eight year old daughter it's uncommon or unlikely to happen to her. This is what I wanted to explore in our film. This impossible task for a father to convince his daughter that she's safe as this fear becomes a part of who she is and how she moves her body through this world."

Her father, a Brazilian immigrant, chased after the man and helped police make an arrest, she recounted. "But this week we have come to learn that other men did not come to a former Cornell student's aid when she needed it," she said. "The details are horrifying. The Cornell administration that gave leniency to these boys are at best sympathizers who valued those boys' lives over Jane Doe's."

"These men were going to graduate and become our next leaders," she continued. "It's a reminder of why so many people carry pain in silence. Not one of those 50 men behaved like my father when they saw an injustice. Not one. Rape and rape culture are global epidemics. The words we've read in the fraternity text chain are not an anomaly."

De Araújo addressed men directly. "To the men who have not lost their humanity. Please hold each other accountable even when it's uncomfortable. Be the man who chases, not the man who laughs with the group," she said. "Help the women and girls in your lives. If a young filmmaker asks you for notes on a cut of her film, give them. Any small engagement is enormously motivating and helpful for her persistence. If for no other reason, do it for yourself because the stories we tell raise the leaders who will show up for us then when we need them."

She tied the film itself to that call. "I did not have the capacity to help the young woman in the park when I was eight. I didn't yet have the faculties. I made 'Josephine' with the purpose of answering the woman's call for help now," she said.

She closed by invoking the Cornell victim. "This week I kept wondering 'What would Jane Doe have grown up to be when she graduated?' The doctor, senator, the journalist. In the only way she could, with anything left that she was able to muster, she cried out to us for help and I really hope we all answer that call," she said.

She thanked her cast and crew, including Gemma Chan, Channing Tatum, Phil Ettinger and Syra McCarthy, whom she called her "film family." "It was a hard story, but they made it a joyful set for me," she said. "And to Mason [Reeves], our Josephine, thank you for giving this character more honesty, love, and resilience than I could have ever asked for. And to everyone who has watched this film and who has talked about it, I really thank you."

As "Josephine" continues its awards-season run on the strength of its Sundance sweep, de Araújo's speech has reframed the film as her answer to a call for help — one she first heard at eight years old and, by her own account, has spent decades learning how to answer.