'Mignonnes' director speaks out on Netflix apology

Director Maïmouna Doucouré, in Paris, in July 2020. -

At the end of August, the French director Maïmouna Doucouré found herself in spite of herself at the heart of a controversy.

In question, the way in which Netflix promoted its film

in

the United States before

it was put online.

The streaming platform had chosen a visual presenting the heroines of the film, 11-year-old girls, in lascivious poses.

At the sight of this image, the controversy arose on the other side of the Atlantic and swelled: the feature film was accused of sexualizing children.

However, with

, Maïmouna Doucouré rightly denounces the hypersexualization of young girls.

Ok so the Netflix Cuties movie.

I did some research and the director is a French Senegalese Black woman who is pulls from her own experiences as an immigrant and comments on the hyper-sexualization of preadolescent girls.

But look at the original poster vs the Netflix one pic.twitter.com/JVbaa5iueG

- 🤔 • ° {Miggs ...?} (@Miggsboson) August 20, 2020

On social networks, insults and threats were added to the trial of intent.

Netflix has apologized, changed the visuals by admitting that they "were not representative" of the work awarded at the Sundance Film Festival.

Nevertheless, the damage was done.

“Extraordinary support” from the French government

Maïmouna Doucouré spoke, for the first time since the controversy, to the American site Deadline, which published her testimony on Thursday.

“I had not seen the poster [chosen by Netflix] before receiving all these reactions on social networks, private messages, attacks targeting me.

I didn't understand what was going on.

That's where I went to see what the visual looked like, ”she says.

The director says she received "many death threats" and stresses that the people who targeted her "had not seen the film".

On the other hand, many people who saw him, especially at the Berlin Film Festival or Sundance, showed their support.

Among them, the American actress Tessa Thompson.

Disappointed to see how it was positioned in terms of marketing.

I understand the response of everybody.

But it doesn't speak to the film I saw.

https://t.co/L6kmAcJFU1

- Tessa Thompson (@TessaThompson_x) August 20, 2020

Maïmouna Doucouré tells Deadline that she has received "extraordinary support" from the French government, which plans to use

as an educational aid.

The filmmaker adds to have had several exchanges with Netflix.

She received a call from Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of the platform, who apologized to her on behalf of his company.

Maïmouna Doucouré is, according to Deadline, working on a project intended for a streaming platform as well as a film that she would shoot in Africa and North America.

, released in French theaters on August 19, is still visible on more than 200 large screens.

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