French police are investigating filmmaker Luc Besson over an allegation of rape.

The Leon and Fifth Element director, 59, is accused of drugging and attacking a 27-year-old actress at a hotel in Paris. He denies the claims, filed at a police station in the French capital on Friday.

“Luc Besson categorically denies these fantasist accusations,” the director’s lawyer, Thierry Marembert, told news agency AFP.

He said Besson’s accuser was “someone he knows, towards whom he has never behaved inappropriately”.

The allegations emerged on the last day of the Cannes films festival, where sexual misconduct in the industry was a dominant theme.

Besson is among France’s most famous filmmakers, having written, directed or produced nearly 100 movies including The Big Blue, Taken and Lucy. His most recent as director, sci-fi adventure film Valerian, was released in July.