Netflix could go on trial after movie Cuties is accused of 'sexualising' pre-teen girls
Netflix could be heading to court after a grand jury in Texas indicted the California-based streaming company
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Streaming giant Netflix could go on trial in Texas, US, after it refused to take down controversial film Cuties.
The French film - which debuted on the site on September 9 - follows 11-year-old Amy, a young girl in France living with her Muslim family and waiting for her father to return home from Senegal.
Her mother Mariam still holds dear the traditional Senegalese values and Amy rebels by joining a dance troupe named The Cuties.
The film - written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré which premiered at the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival this year - shows the pre-teens engaging in risqué choreography, including twerking.
The characters can also seen wearing revealing shorts and tiny crop tops - which caused uproar with a number of people threatening to boycott Netflix for not taking down the film that was seen to be sexualising pre-teens.
And according to The Daily Star, Netflix could be heading to court after a grand jury in Texas indicted the California-based streaming company on September 23.
The streaming service has been accused of broadcasting lewd material in the state of Texas.
The grand jury will decide whether the streaming giant should go on trial, according to the outlet.
Mirror Online has contacted Netflix for comment.
The director of Cuties Maïmouna has defended her work, calling it feminist.
Speaking in a panel at the Toronto Film Festival on French filmmakers on Monday, director Maïmouna Doucouré claims her movie is feminist and is actually a commentary on how young girls are treated.
She said: "It's because I saw so many things and so many issues around me lived by young girls, that I decided to make this film and sound an alarm and say we need to protect our children
"It's bold, it's feminist, but it's so important and necessary to create debate and try to find solutions, for me as an artist, for politicians and parents.
"It's a real issue."
Doucouré claims the he film's main character Amy is "navigating between two models of femininity" — her Muslim mother's traditional beliefs and the one held by the Cuties dance troupe.
She says Amy feels she can "find her freedom through that group of dancers and their hyper-sexualization.
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