Netflix has been making serious waves this fall with their incredibly strong slate of prestige films. But while “Roma,” “Outlaw King,” “Hold the Dark,” and “Bird Box” seem to be getting a majority of the headlines, one of the more acclaimed films that the streaming service picked up is “Girl” from filmmaker Lukas Dhont. And now, according to a report, Dhont’s directorial debut film that wowed audiences at Cannes is experiencing a bit of controversy surrounding it’s impending Netflix rerelease.
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“Girl” tells the story of a teenage transgender girl training to become a ballerina. The film debuted in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and ended up winning the Fipresci Prize. Soon after it’s Cannes debut, Netflix swooped in and bought the distribution rights to the Belgian film. However, controversy mounted when a European newspaper published comments from Dhont that said the streaming service would be editing out a scene in the film, which featured the 15-year-old lead actor, Victor Polster, fully nude.
Netflix has long been seen as a place where almost anything goes, creatively speaking. While the service has been known to give notes and ideas to filmmakers, Netflix has long been known as the place where the people responsible for the film had the final say in what is released. And apparently, according to a new statement from Dhont, released by Netflix, it appears that’s what’s happening here.
The statement reads (via 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.”
So it appears that Netflix and Dhont did discuss the final cut of the film, which includes the nudity, and have decided to go with the version that was screened at Cannes and received critical acclaim.
“Girl” will hit Netflix on January 18, 2019.