Maïmouna Doucouré, the director of the French film Cuties “fights the same fight” as the people who criticize her film. She tells this on Monday during a virtual panel of UniFrance.
In the film, an 11-year-old girl joins a dance group of peers, which is not appreciated by her traditional family. The film won the award for World Cinema Dramatic Directing at the Sundance Film Festival.
However, there was a fuss around the movie after Netflix distributed a movie poster that critics say would sexualize the girls. On the poster, the main characters wore revealing dance outfits and posed provocatively. Netflix, which bought the film from Sundance, apologized and withdrew the poster.
According to the 35-year-old director, the controversy started because of the movie poster. “The important thing is to watch the movie and understand that we are fighting the same fight.”
‘Hypersexualization of children is happening everywhere’
Doucouré rejects the idea that the criticism of the film has to do with cultural differences between France, Europe and the United States. “I thought the film would be accepted. It was shot at Sundance and was watched by American people there. I spoke to the audience and they really saw that the film is about a universal issue. ”
“It’s not about French society – the hypersexualization of children is happening through social media and social media is everywhere. People (at Sundance, ed.) Agreed.”
“We have to protect our children. What I want is to open my eyes to this problem and try to solve it,” the filmmaker continues. She adds that it is “” important and necessary to initiate debate and find solutions. “