Luc Besson: French film director accused of rape Published duration 19 May 2018

image copyright AFP/Getty Images image caption Luc Besson's lawyer said he "categorically denies" the rape allegation

Police in Paris are investigating a rape allegation made against Luc Besson, one of France's best-known film directors.

The complaint was filed by an actress at a Paris police station on Friday.

"Luc Besson categorically denies these fantasist accusations," the director's lawyer Thierry Marembert told the AFP news agency.

"[The complainant] is someone he knows, towards whom he has never behaved inappropriately."

Besson, 59, a director, producer and screenwriter, is most famous for directing the 1988 film Le Grand Bleu, as well as Leon, Subway, The Fifth Element and action thriller Nikita.

He recently directed the sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne.