France is rounding up their five selections to be considered for the Oscar’s International Feature Film category – Maïmouna Doucouré’s Cuties made the list. The drama about young girls coming into sexuality too soon due to social media influences was well received in its original market of France, however, once it reached America the tune quickly changed. The film premiered at the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance’s 2020 Film Festival, earning Doucouré the award for Best Director. The BAC Films project was released in France on August 19, though, the film didn’t make headlines until Netflix released early marketing images for the film on September 9, that American audiences caught wind and set social media afire over the imagery.
Amy, the 13 year old subject of the film, is the middle child in a devout Muslim family living in South Africa. From listening to the traditional teachings of her community to witnessing her mother break down due to her father taking on a second wife, Amy looks for an escape from her home life. This is when she’s introduced to a group of young dancers at her school that call themselves the Cuties. The girls connect through dance that is provocative in nature, emulating what they see in music videos and on social media.
The poster chosen by Netflix to promote the film quickly sparked an outrage amongst religious groups and parents across America. Due to the backlash, Netflix quickly switched out the offensive imagery for a softer, more child friendly poster for the film apologizing, saying that the marketing effort was “inappropriate” and “not representative” of what the film was truly about. Still, many felt the poster and movie sexualized young girls and provided content for sexual predators and many groups around the country boycotted the streamer for not taking the content down from its platform. Doucouré even addressed the accusations in an interview with Deadline saying, “I actually hope that those who haven’t seen it, will see it, and I can’t wait to see their reaction,” she asserts. “Hopefully they will understand that we’re actually on the same side of this battle. If we join forces, we could make a big change in this world that hypersexualizes children.”
Months later, the outrage has died down and despite all of the negative feedback from the American audience, France has still put the movie in the running for an Oscar bid. Amongst Cuties, France is also submitting François Ozon’s coming of age drama Eté 85 (Summer OF 85), Maiwenn’s historical drama ADN (DNA), Filipo Meneghetti’s comedy/drama Two of Us, and Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s debut film Gagarine. France’s Oscar selection committee will reconvene on November 19 to make its final decisions on what will represent their country at the 2021 Academy Awards. This year’s Academy Awards will air in April 2021.
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