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  • Mignonnes

    , by Maïmouna Doucouré, is prompting calls for a boycott in the United States from the American conservative fringe.

    Unsubscribes from Netflix, the platform on which the film is broadcast, have increased.

  • 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", judges the civil society of Authors and Producers, chaired by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Jolivet.

  • “Watch the film and you will understand that we are fighting the same fight,” replies director Maïmouna Doucouré.

It is a raging battle, which opposes two shores of the Atlantic, two opposing visions of the same film: 

Mignonnes

, by Maïmouna Doucouré.

In the United States, the film is accused of hypersexualizing children;

in France, French directors denounce "an attack on the freedom of creation".

Across the ocean, several local Republicans last week relayed the call to boycott Netflix, the film platform on which it is broadcast.

Senator Ted Cruz, who has not seen the film, called on the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of laws protecting minors.

The elected to the House of Representatives Jim Banks estimated, on the chain Fox News, that "Netflix should be sued" in justice.

Following @ netflix's disturbing promotion of “Cuties,” I sent a letter calling on @TheJusticeDept to investigate whether Netflix, its executives, or the filmmakers violated any federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.

pic.twitter.com/P7wLXixU6X

- Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 12, 2020

"Indispensable freedom of expression"

In France, the civil society of Authors and Producers, chaired by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Jolivet, replied.

The call to boycott the French film Mignonnes on Netflix in the United States is "a serious attack on the freedom of creation," the ARP ruled on Tuesday.

“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.

# Press release Call to boycott the film Mignonnes: a serious attack on the freedom of creation https://t.co/EcyV2J28Ty

- ARP Filmmakers (@L_ARP) September 15, 2020

Government support

Many actresses, directors, feminist activists and journalists supported the film.

Maïmouna Doucouré also says she has received "extraordinary support" from the French government, which plans to use

Mignonnes

as an educational aid.

Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate responsible in particular for Equality between women and men, applauded "a poignant and educational film".

Mignonnes

evokes the story of Amy, an 11-year-old Parisian who joins a dance group formed by three other girls from her neighborhood, whose choreographies are sometimes suggestive, like those of many current pop stars.

"Watch the film and you will understand"

The director's intention is unequivocal: to denounce hypersexualization.

She denounces in all her interviews the "danger" that social networks represent for little girls attracted by the hypersexualized female models that they are offered, and because the system of "likes" and the algorithms of these applications encourage this phenomenon. .

"Watch the film and you will understand that we are leading the same fight", reacted Monday the director Maïmouna Doucouré during a virtual round table organized by UniFrance.

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

Unsubscribes

But according to the firm YipitData, Netflix unsubscribes increased after the posting of

Mignonnes

and reached, on Saturday, eight times the daily average recorded in August.

A first wave of criticism, in August, led Netflix to remove a visual used to promote the film, released under the title "Cuties".

Within the Democratic Party, only the former presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard took a stand against the film, which "whets the appetite of pedophiles", according to her.

In the background, far-right sympathizers linked the affair to QAnon, a conspiracy theory which wants in particular that personalities, on the left for the most part, organized a vast pedophile ring, which Donald Trump would have the mission to dismantle.

Culture

Beyoncé, Cardi B, Miley Cyrus… The film "Mignonnes" (re) poses the question of models of hypersexualized stars

  • Child

  • Feminism

  • Movie

  • Sexual violence

  • Culture