Netflix Steps into Controversy with Under-Age Nudity in New Film
by EG
Netflix could face both backlash from subscribers and potential legal concerns if it airs unedited a new film from European director Lukas Dhont. If it does edit the film to remove a nude scene by its 15-year-old star, however, it will likely be mocked by European film critics. Read on for details of the dilemma.
Lukas Dhont's feature directorial debut, Girl — about a transgender girl (played by breakout Victor Polster) training to become a ballerina — wowed Cannes when it premiered in May, picking up a distribution deal with Netflix and four awards including the Fipresci Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
Now the film, Belgium's official entry in the foreign-language Oscar race, is the subject of controversy following Dhont's comments in a European newspaper that the streamer had plans to edit out a scene with full frontal nudity of its star, then 15.
Since then, it seems Dhont has come to a rapprochement, according to a statement from the director via Netflix to THR: "Regarding reports made this week in the Belgian media, we as filmmakers had some internal conversations with Netflix in which we discussed how some of the material in Girl could possibly be received outside of Europe. We were given the option to be able to edit the film, and it always was a dialogue in which the filmmakers had the strongest say. The version of Girl that will be shown on Netflix will be the same version that premiered in Cannes, and in theaters in Belgium and other parts of the world."
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Do you think Netflix is handling the controversy correctly? Let us know in the comments below.