New York - (AFP) - A civil trial has begun in New York for the two-time Oscar-winning Canadian director Paul Haggis, 69, who is accused by an advertising agent of raping her in 2013, which the director denies.

The director of "Crash" and screenwriter of "Million Dollar Baby" and "Casino Royale" arrived at the court in the morning, according to an AFP photographer.

In December 2017, an advertising agent working in the field of cinema, Halay Priest, accused the Canadian director of raping her in January 2013 when she was 26 years old.

In the midst of the #MeToo wave, during which many women revealed that they had been sexually assaulted, Paul Haggis' name was mentioned as three women accused him of sexually assaulting them. However, he is being tried in New York for his alleged practices towards Halay Brest.

Last June, Haggis was arrested in southern Italy on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman, which he also denied.

And several American media indicated that Haggis' defense attorneys stated on Wednesday before the jury in the New York court that the lawsuit filed by Halay Priest was motivated by the secular church that Paul Haggis had separated from and criticized since then. Brest's lawyers denied these allegations.

Priest says in her lawsuit that the director, after showing one of his films in Manhattan on the evening of January 31, 2013, insisted on taking her to his house for a drink while she assured him of her desire to go to a bar. When they arrived at his home, Haggis repeatedly tried to molest her before forcing her to perform sexual acts and then raping her.

Haggis, best known for his co-authorship of the series "Walker Texas Ranger," won two Oscars in the Best Picture and Best Screenplay categories for "Crash." He also wrote the script for the movie "Million Dollar Baby" and the films "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" from the James Bond series.