114-399: Cuties ( French : Mignonnes ) is a 2020 French drama film written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré in her feature directorial debut. The film's ensemble cast is led by Fathia Youssouf who portrays Amy, a Senegalese-French girl with a traditional Muslim upbringing who is caught between traditional Muslim values and Internet culture when she joins a twerking dance crew. Doucouré
228-635: A MIPCOM Online+ keynote address, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos continued to defend the film. "Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about the First Amendment implications of this film. It's a film I would argue is very misunderstood with some audiences, uniquely in the United States...It's the director's story and the film has obviously played very well at Sundance, without any of this kind of controversy and played in theaters throughout Europe without any of this controversy, ...I think it's
342-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
456-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
570-509: A film "that has permitted the sexual exploitation of children" a platform and called for the company to cut the "sexually-exploitative scenes or stop hosting this film at all". Forbes noted that the film does not contain any child pornography , such as explicit nudity of a minor. The French directors guild criticised the backlash against the film, calling it a "grave attack on freedom of creation" being fueled by "the most conservative of Americans." French organisation UniFrance also condemned
684-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
798-446: A letter directly to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings , and requested "an explanation on Hasting's [ sic ] views as to whether or not the potential exploitation of minors in this film constitutes criminal behavior". U.S. House Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii explicitly called the film " child porn " and that it would "whet the appetite of pedophiles [and] help fuel the child sex trafficking trade." U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas sent
912-510: A letter to Netflix asking for removal of the film. Donald Trump Jr. , son of then-President Donald Trump, also condemned the film in a campaign event in Arizona saying "You know what the left is doing? They're justifying Cuties , they're justifying pedophilia." On 23 September 2020, Netflix was indicted by a grand jury in Tyler County, Texas , on a charge that it "depicts the lewd exhibition of
1026-538: A letter to the Department of Justice to "investigate whether Netflix, its executives, or the filmmakers violated any federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography." Christine Pelosi , daughter of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , stated that Cuties "hypersexualises girls my daughter's age no doubt to the delight of pedophiles like the ones I prosecuted." Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Representative Jim Banks of Indiana also both criticised
1140-515: A little surprising that in 2020 in America, we're having a discussion about censoring storytelling." In November 2020, it was reported that Netflix sent dozens of takedown requests to Twitter targeting specific posts that criticise Cuties . One user whose tweets were removed said it was "a clear violation of our First Amendment rights", while another user stated it was "just sad", and added "shame on Netflix and Twitter for taking away people's voices. That
1254-688: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
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#17328586422901368-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
1482-650: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
1596-438: A subject of controversy, starting from Netflix's initial promotional poster that was widely considered inappropriate. Following its release on Netflix, the film polarized audiences, in part due to sexually suggestive scenes involving the child actors. Amy, an 11-year-old girl from Senegal , lives with her mother Mariam and two younger brothers, one of them named Ishmael, in an apartment in one of Paris' poorest neighbourhoods. She
1710-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
1824-453: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
1938-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2052-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
2166-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
2280-518: Is angered by her polygynous father, who is preparing to return with a second wife. She is also bored with Islamic culture that her aunt seeks to impose on her. Amy is fascinated by her disobedient neighbour Angelica's pre-teen twerking clique, the Cuties, which is in stark contrast to Mariam's Muslim customs. They do not hesitate to adopt revealing outfits against their older rivals, the Sweety Swags. In
2394-628: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
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#17328586422902508-549: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
2622-418: Is how I feel." TorrentFreak said the cluster of copyright claims by Netflix was unusual. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A thoughtful look at the intricacies of girlhood in the modern age, Cuties is a coming-of-age film that confronts its themes with poignancy and nuance." At Metacritic ,
2736-457: Is important to have a conversation in society about these issues. Casting for the film took nearly six months. Approximately 650 girls auditioned for the main character Amy; ultimately, 11-year-old Fathia Youssouf was chosen. Principal photography took place in various locations around France over a period of three months. Doucouré said she "created a climate of trust" between the young actors and herself during filming. She stated while working on
2850-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
2964-462: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
3078-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
3192-618: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
3306-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
3420-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
3534-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
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3648-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
3762-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
3876-600: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
3990-509: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
4104-530: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
4218-547: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
4332-820: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
4446-575: The Ministry of Family asked Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) to take the necessary precautions and evaluate the film; RTÜK subsequently demanded the film be removed from the Netflix catalogue. Netflix removed the film from its catalogue in Turkey two days before its release. In September 2020, Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi signed one of the petitions and demanded Netflix cancel their planned release of
4560-609: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
4674-686: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
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4788-735: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
4902-611: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
5016-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
5130-502: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
5244-742: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
5358-682: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
5472-886: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
5586-524: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
5700-471: The First Amendment clinic at Southern Methodist University , said the indictment was an "unusual test case", adding that it's "troubling" that there is a "criminal charge related to First Amendment activity, particularly expressive activity, like a movie." The Texas-based defense lawyer Paul Saputo called the indictment "one of 'the dumbest and most absurd' in the state", noting its win at Sundance qualifies
5814-476: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
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#17328586422905928-621: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
6042-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
6156-504: The World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January, where Doucouré won the Directing Award, and was one of three French films to be screened at festival. Originally set for a theatrical release in France on 1 April 2020, the film was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France , and was eventually released on 19 August 2020 by BAC Films . The film earned US$ 692,459; in its opening day it earned US$ 644,309 at 169 theaters. In January 2020, prior to
6270-401: The backlash on social media. She claimed that things happened fairly quickly (after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic ); she was focusing solely on the film's theatrical release in France, and at the time was not consulted about the controversial poster unveiled by Netflix. She said that she was notified of the film's poster controversy after being informed of negative feedback and reviews from
6384-471: The backlash towards the film, saying in a statement that the backlash "pose[s] a serious threat to the very space that cinema seeks to open up: a space of discussion, reflection, and of helping us to see beyond our own preconceived ideas." Despite the controversy, the film reached the top 5 on Netflix in the United States, as well as the top 10 in 17 other countries. In a poll by Screen Engine/ASI of 96 U.S. Netflix subscribers 52% of people said they only watched
6498-544: The condition of women when childhood and innocence discreetly recede" and a "female cast carried by the intensity of the young Fathia Youssouf, a revelation". David Fear of Rolling Stone rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, calling it a "sensitive portrait of growing pains that deserves to be seen". Common Sense Media gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that "Maïmouna Doucouré has created an evocative, compassionate portrait of young girls finding their identity and values". Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post defended
6612-409: The contrast of the dancing and the traditional garb of the families in the audience was fascinating. She also based it on her own experience with the contrast of the cultures of France and Senegal . Doucouré spent nearly 18 months researching studies on how young and pre-teen children are being exposed to adult content and sexualised images on social media in order to showcase the accurate reality in
6726-407: The controversy saying, "The movie has certainly started a debate, though not the one that I intended." She also said, "It's my sincerest hope that this conversation doesn't become so difficult that it too gets caught up in today's ' cancel culture .'" U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri informally invited Netflix to discuss the film "before Congress" in a tweet. U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah sent
6840-404: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
6954-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
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#17328586422907068-489: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
7182-414: The film and said that it avoids judging the sexualised dances of the girls. French newspaper Libération described the film as "endearing but too demonstrative", adding that "the film remains on the threshold of the discomfort that it intends to press each time it meets the male gaze, as if it was afraid to blame it head on". According to France Info , " Mignonnes ' words are a subtle reflection on
7296-407: The film as having serious artistic value. Former federal prosecutor Duncan Levin also stated that the indictment was "more of a culture wars attack on a sexualized film than a law enforcement issue." The National Society of Film Critics also spoke out against the indictment, calling it "utterly baseless" and "absurd". The case was dismissed without prejudice in 2022. On 12 October 2020, during
7410-453: The film became controversial primarily due to the artwork used by Netflix. In the interview, she rejected the claim that the controversy originated in cultural differences between European and American viewers. She insisted that she shares the spirit and fight against sexualisation of children similar to those who criticised the film. Doucouré reaffirmed her intentions for making the film in an op-ed for The Washington Post , and responded to
7524-400: The film due to the controversy, while 29% said it was a major factor in their choice to watch the film. After watching the film 72% said the controversy was "overblown" with 38% strongly agreeing. Overall 48% strongly agreed that the film should not be available on Netflix, while 17% somewhat agreed. However, it has also been noted that there was a decrease in renewals to Netflix, likely due to
7638-617: The film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of four stars, stating that " Cuties is a difficult and challenging film, pushing the idea of 'depiction does not equal endorsement' to its limit." In a review for IndieWire , Kate Erbland wrote, "Although Doucouré steeps Cuties in emotion and experience, she abandons its grace to make crazier gestures." Variety ' s Amy Nicholson wrote: "Newcomer Youssouf has an anchoring presence. Occasionally, Doucouré lets her light up
7752-511: The film in separate statements, calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to take legal action against Netflix, with Cotton saying "There's no excuse for the sexualisation of children, and Netflix's decision to promote the film Cuties is disgusting at best and a serious crime at worst". Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona also called for the Department of Justice to investigate. The state attorneys general of Ohio , Florida , Louisiana , and Texas have also written
7866-410: The film's Sundance premiere, Netflix purchased the worldwide rights to the film, excluding France. It was released internationally on Netflix on 9 September 2020. On 15 August 2024, it was announced that Netflix's license to stream the film would soon expire and the film would be removed from the service on 8 September. Prior to its release on Netflix, the film had not been deemed controversial when it
7980-445: The film, "I explained to them everything I was doing and the research that I had done before I wrote this story. I was also lucky that these girls' parents were also activists, so we were all on the same side. At their age, they've seen this kind of dance. Any child with a telephone can find these images on social media these days." She also stated that a child psychologist was on staff during filming. Cuties had its world premiere in
8094-430: The film, and a moderator on the movies and television board of 4chan banned images pertaining to the film from being posted on the imageboard site. In Latin America, #NetflixPedofilia trended on Twitter prior to the film's Netflix release. In response, Netflix replaced the poster with a new one, stating, "This was not an accurate representation of the film so the image and description has been updated." The new poster
8208-486: The film, stating that the film would be liked by those who have not seen a glimpse of it yet, and she also criticised the remarks made against the film. Carlos Aguilar of TheWrap compared Cuties to films such as Girlhood (2014), The Fits (2015) and Atlantics (2019). Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily , however, commented on the close-up minor shots: "Doucouré seems to want to provoke censure, but fails precisely because she's trying so hard." She also called
8322-541: The film. Adriana Martínez Bedini, vice-president of Buenos Aires ' Consejo de los Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes (Council for the Rights of Girls, Boys and Teenagers), called for "being very careful not to eroticize childhood. Its consequences in society can be serious", adding that the topic would be included in the council plenary. In an interview with Deadline Hollywood , Maïmouna Doucouré stated that she received numerous death threats and personal attacks following
8436-473: The film. Netflix has apologised to the public and to myself. I'm hoping that these people will watch the movie now that it's out. I'm eager to see their reaction when they realise that we're both on the same side of this fight against young children's hypersexualisation." The National Center on Sexual Exploitation , a conservative religious organisation formerly known as Morality in Media, condemned Netflix for giving
8550-415: The film. She spoke to many young girls about these issues. She says that the film deals with self-image and social media . "Our girls see that the more a woman is overly sexualised on social media, the more she is successful. Children just imitate what they see, trying to achieve the same result without understanding the meaning. It is dangerous." She says that although watching the film may be difficult, it
8664-432: The film. The days after the film's release saw an eight times increase in the number of cancellations of Netflix subscriptions than typical, reaching "a multi-year high", according to data analytics companies Antenna and YipitData. Research firm 7Park Data noted that the surge in Netflix cancellations died down within a week of the initial uproar. In September 2020, in an interview hosted by UniFrance, Doucouré reflected that
8778-680: The finale at the Parc de la Villette , she is determined to dance with them, and sneaks out of the house. She pushes Yasmine into a canal, so the Cuties have no choice but to allow her to dance with them. The highly suggestive dance routine polarizes audiences. Suddenly thinking about her mother during the routine, Amy bursts into tears and leaves before their performance ends. Upon her return, she runs into her aunt, who blames her for her outfit and recent attitude. Amy's mother intervenes by telling her to leave her daughter alone and then hugs her to reassure her. Amy's aunt implores her mother to not allow her to attend
8892-506: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
9006-858: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
9120-818: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
9234-418: The genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age ... and has no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." In response, Netflix continued to defend the film in a statement saying, " Cuties is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children. This charge is without merit and we stand by the film." Thomas Leatherbury, director of
9348-439: The impact of review bombing in relation to the controversy over the film. In response, Netflix defended Cuties , saying that the film is a piece of "social commentary against the sexualisation of young children" and encouraged subscribers to watch it. In a further interview, Doucouré claimed that people upset with her film have not streamed it, stating: "I realise that the people who have started this controversy haven't yet seen
9462-508: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
9576-474: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
9690-602: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
9804-475: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
9918-454: The musical shots "outrageous", but also said that "[a]ll four Cuties members give excellent performances." Yvonne Bohwongprasert of the Bangkok Post stated that the film's storyline "sexualises the girls in a manner that would pander to the desires of a paedophile" with "a plot that really does not make sense." Brett McCracken of The Gospel Coalition argued that "People on every point on
10032-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
10146-528: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
10260-481: The outrage was based on clips of the film that were taken out of context. Subscribers of Netflix repeatedly threatened to cancel their subscriptions following the release of the film on the platform. It became the second Netflix film in 2020 to have received severe backlash and condemnation among the public regarding accusations of inappropriate culture portrayal, following 365 Days . Shortly after its release on Netflix, Cuties had an IMDb rating of 1.7/10, reflecting
10374-488: The political spectrum should be able to say it is wrong for a film— any film, however well-intentioned—to depict close-up, lingering shots of scantily clad 11-year-olds twerking." French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from
10488-462: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
10602-401: The public on social media, and that the co-CEO of Netflix phoned her directly and apologised for the poster release. On 10 September, #CancelNetflix started trending on Twitter in the United States (one day after the release of the film internationally) with The Guardian saying that opposition came from across the political spectrum. Michelle Jaworski of The Daily Dot said that part of
10716-605: The quest for online recognition, Amy decides to incorporate suggestive dance moves into the choreography. After getting pantsed for fighting with Sweety Swags, she steals her cousin’s phone and sends a photo of her vulva online to a social network in an attempt to look mature, backfiring heavily with her being ostracised , also causing a rift between her and the Cuties who kick her out, replaced with former member Yasmine. Her mother also confronts her for committing such indecency. She and her aunt try performing an exorcism on Amy, but it fails. While her father's wedding day corresponds to
10830-464: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
10944-508: The role of Amy. Principal photography lasted three months, with a psychologist assisting the child actresses throughout. Cuties premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January, where Doucouré won the Directing Award. It was released in France on 19 August 2020 by BAC Films and internationally on 9 September 2020 on Netflix . While critical response to the film was mostly positive, including some award nominations, it became
11058-420: The screen with a smile, and at the director's most expressionistic, the girl floats", though it stated the film is aiming to gain more "gasps than laughs" with its dance numbers. Other reviewers commented that the film is intended to criticise "a culture that steers impressionable young girls toward the hypersexualisation of their bodies" and "seems to want to provoke censure". Clarisse Fabre of Le Monde praised
11172-462: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
11286-673: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
11400-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
11514-479: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
11628-455: The wedding in order to demonstrate her disapproval. Amy's mother permits her not to go, but states that she herself must go to fulfill her duty as a wife. In the end, Amy abandons both the traditional wedding dress and her provocative dancer's outfit, living a normal youth lifestyle. The film was announced by filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré as her feature debut directorial venture. She rose to prominence with her 2016 short film Maman(s) , which
11742-531: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
11856-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
11970-497: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
12084-791: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
12198-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
12312-428: Was inspired to write the script upon seeing a suggestive youth talent show one day, as well as from her experience as a Senegalese-French person. She said that it is intended to criticise the hypersexualisation of pre-adolescent girls, and that she logged over 18 months of research on the topic. The script later won an award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival . Casting took six months, with 700 girls being auditioned for
12426-633: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
12540-481: Was replaced with that of the original theatrical release, depicting the girls running in the street with shopping bags while celebrating. Amidst the controversy, American actress Tessa Thompson came out in support of the film when it was criticised on social media, stating that " Cuties is a beautiful film" and said that she felt "gutted" when she saw the film for the first time during the Sundance premiere. In Turkey,
12654-557: Was screened at Sundance and released in France. After Netflix acquired Cuties , its international promotional poster and trailer for the film were criticised for allegedly sexualising 11-year-old girls and were different from those used to promote the film in its original release in France. The Parents Television Council (PTC) requested that Netflix remove the film entirely, and a Change.org petition calling for people to cancel their Netflix subscription gathered more than 600,000 signatures. Followers of QAnon on social media also criticised
12768-465: Was selected and premiered in over two hundred film festivals, and won around sixty awards in several international film festivals. Doucouré penned the script for Cuties , taking her life experience as a refugee girl into account. The script eventually won Sundance's Global Filmmaking Award in 2017. Doucouré says her inspiration for the film was a talent show in Paris that she happened to see. She says that
12882-575: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
12996-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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