The call for a boycott of the French film
Mignonnes
on Netflix in the United States is "
a serious attack on the freedom of creation
", ruled Tuesday the ARP, a structure which represents French authors, directors and producers.
This film is accused by thousands of American Internet users of sexualizing the children who are its heroines.
Its director, Maïmouna Doucouré and Netflix, on the contrary, emphasize that the purpose of the film is precisely to denounce the sexualization of children.
To read also: "Mignonnes", the first award-winning film about an adolescence torn between two cultures
“
This film, produced in France, then purchased by Netflix for broadcast in the United States, is emblematic of the essential freedom of expression that cinema, in all its diversity, needs to tackle disturbing subjects, and therefore necessary for 'exercise of democracy
,' said the ARP (Authors, Directors, Producers) in a press release.
“
At a time when the most conservative Americans are calling for a boycott of the film
Mignonnes
, we would like to lend our support to Maïmouna Doucouré, its director, who won the prize for best achievement at the Sundance Festival,
” adds the ARP .
A first wave of criticism, in August, led Netflix to remove a visual used to promote the film, which was released in theaters in mid-August in France, before being put online in the United States on September 9 under the title
Cuties
.
American Conservatives
If the attacks came from all types of Internet users in the United States, including the left, the subject brought together many American conservatives, among members of the Republican Party, some of whom are candidates for Congress.
Read also:
Cute
: US senators ask Netflix to account
"
The controversy began with the poster ... The most important thing is to watch the film and understand that we are leading the same fight,
" said Maïmouna Doucouré, whose remarks were made during a video roundtable on young directors, were quoted Monday by the American magazine
Variety
.
The film, which received a director's award at the prestigious American Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of Amy, an 11-year-old Parisian, who must juggle the strict rules of her Senegalese family and the tyranny of appearance and appearance. social networks, which plays full with children of his age.
She joins a dance group formed by three other girls from her neighborhood, whose choreographies are sometimes suggestive, like those of many current pop stars.