“Allen v. Farrow, ”the highly anticipated new documentation from directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, is a four-hour investigation of the allegations of child sexual abuse first made by Dylan Farrow, adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, against her father in 1992, when she was 7 years old.
But the series, premiering on Sunday on HBO, serves as a fascinating glimpse into one of the most prominent relationships – and the most bitter breakups – in Hollywood history. In 1992, after 12 years together, the Oscar-winning writer / director and his romantic partner / professional collaborator became involved in a public war for the custody of their three children, which included not only Dylan’s accusations, but also the revelation of Allen’s sexual relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow’s adopted daughter from a previous marriage, and the release of his 13th film together, “Husbands and Women”.
Here is a selected timeline of events in Allen and Farrow’s relationship, the allegations of Dylan’s abuse, the custody battle and major developments since then, with excerpts from the Los Angeles Times coverage at the time it happened.
Dylan Farrow, left, Woody Allen and Ronan Farrow in HBO’s “Allen v. Farrow” archive footage.
(HBO)
1977: Farrow and her second husband, composer André Previn, adopt Soon-Yi, then about 7 years old, from South Korea. Farrow already had three biological sons (Matthew, Sascha and Fletcher) and two adopted daughters (Lark and Daisy).
1979: Allen and Farrow meet for the first time. Farrow, divorced from Previn, and Allen, not far from winning several Oscars for “Annie Hall”, are presented at Elaine’s restaurant in Manhattan after a performance of Bernard Slade’s “Romantic Comedy”, in which Farrow was then starring with Anthony Perkins.
July 16, 1982: “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” is released in theaters across the United States. It is the first of Allen and Farrow’s 13 films together, including “Broadway Danny Rose”, “The Purple Rose of Cairo”, “Hannah and Her Sisters”, “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and “Husbands and Wives”.
1980: Farrow adopts Moses Farrow, 2, from South Korea. He is her seventh child and the first adopted after her divorce from Previn.
July 11, 1985: Farrow adopts daughter Dylan, who was born in Texas.
December 19, 1987: Farrow gives birth to son Ronan Farrow, then known as Satchel. Allen is presumed to be the father. Allen said in a statement at the time: “Mia is fine. The baby is good. The only problem is that he looks like Edward G. Robinson. ”(Over the years, they speculated that Ronan was the son of Frank Sinatra, Mia’s first husband.) Farrow and Allen were not married.
December 1991: Allen adopts Dylan and Moses. According to the subsequent court testimony, it is around this time that Allen, then 56, begins a sexual relationship with Soon-Yi, 21.
January 13, 1992: Farrow learns about the relationship when she discovers nude photos of Soon-Yi at Allen’s apartment. In “Allen v. Farrow ”, she describes the photos as a“ Hustler ”graphic, as opposed to the“ Playboy ”graphic.
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow appear in a scene from the 1989 film “Crimes and Misdemeanors”.
(Brian Hamill)
August 4, 1992: Dylan claims that Allen sexually abused her on this day when she was 7 years old. Farrow begins filming Dylan discussing the abuse on the family’s video camera.
August 13, 1992: Allen sues Farrow for custody of Ronan, Dylan and Moses.
August 17, 1992: Allen confirms his relationship with Soon-Yi in a statement.
August 18, 1992: Allen makes a public statement at the Plaza Hotel in New York, calling child sexual abuse allegations “false and outrageous”. In the statement, Allen states that Farrow trained Dylan to prosecute as part of the battle for custody of the couple. The common citation of such “parental alienation” as a defense against allegations of child abuse in custody proceedings is the target of strong criticisms of child welfare and legal experts in “Allen v. Farrow”.
August 25, 1992: As part of a media war with Farrow described in the documentation, Allen does an extensive interview with the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper likens the bitter separation to “the bitter divorce of developer Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana”. “I think this is worse,” comments Allen about the comparison.
September 18, 1992: “Husbands and Women,” Allen and Farrow’s last film together, is released in theaters across the United States. The film stars Allen and Farrow as Gabe and Judy, a couple whose marriage falls apart when Gabe, a writing professor, begins to flirt with one of his students, played by Juliette Lewis. As Allen told The Times in a profile published shortly after he finished filming, “it came very close to what I wanted to do.”
September 21, 1992: The frenzy surrounding Allen and Farrow leads to crowded houses for the opening weekend of “Husbands and Wives”, reports The Times. “The biggest response” on several screenings in the Los Angeles area “came at the beginning of the film, however, when the credit for Allen’s director received an equal share of cheers and whistles,” writes reporter Ryan Murphy.
Mia Farrow, center, with her children. From the left, Daisy, Fletcher, Soon-Yi and Lark.
(HBO)
March 19, 1993: Allen vs. custody trial begins Farrow.
June 7, 1993: Mia Farrow gains custody of Ronan, Dylan and Moses. Allen has no right to visit Dylan. In his decision, New York State Supreme Court judge Elliott Wilk describes Allen as “self-centered, untrustworthy and insensitive” and “has shown no parental skills that would qualify him as an appropriate guardian” of the three children. In contrast, Wilk called Farrow “a caring and loving mother who provided a home for her biological and adopted children”.
December 23, 1997: Allen marries Soon-Yi in Venice, Italy.
February 1, 2014: Dylan writes an open letter detailing Allen’s alleged abuse, which Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posts on his blog. “What is your favorite Woody Allen movie?” the letter begins. “Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven, Woody Allen took me by the hand and took me to a dark attic that looked like a closet on the second floor of our home. He told me to lie on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train. So he sexually assaulted me. “
February 5, 2014: In an interview with People magazine shortly after Dylan’s letter, Moses defends Allen. Moses also claims that his mother physically abused him as a child and echoes Allen’s claim during the custody battle that Dylan’s allegations were trained by Mia as “a vindictive way to repay him for falling in love with Soon-Yi”.
December 7, 2017: Dylan Farrow publishes an opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times, “Why did the #MeToo revolution save Woody Allen?” Just two months after reports of a pattern of sexual harassment and assault by film producer Harvey Weinstein triggered the #MeToo movement, Farrow responds to the release of Allen’s latest film, “Magic Wheel” writing, “Why Harvey Weinstein and other accused celebrities were expelled by Hollywood, while Allen recently secured a multi-million dollar distribution deal with Amazon, the go-ahead for former Amazon Studios executive Roy Price before being suspended for allegations of sexual misconduct? ”
February 21, 2021: “Allen v. Farrow ”. The Times’ TV critic, Lorraine Ali, calls the four-part documentations “a comprehensive, compelling, and ultimately devastating documentary that threatens to burn what’s left of [Allen’s] career and legacy to the ground. “