Before she celebrates her 13th birthday next month, and becomes a proper teenager, Hollywood starlet Dakota Fanning, who has just starred in a charming adaptation of children's classic Charlotte's Web, has a controversy in store.

A row is set to erupt at the Sundance Film Festival later this month over her latest film, Hound Dog, because she is featured in a graphic rape scene. Word of the film's content has provoked accusations of exploitation on the part of Fanning's mother Joy and her agent, Cindy Osbrink. It has also sparked calls for distributors to boycott the movie.

The uncompromising subject matter also caused unease among financial backers during the film's development last summer. Ted Baehr of pressure group the Christian Film & Television Commission is calling on distributors to reject the film and report the filmmakers to legal authorities. He has been quoted as calling the film - an independent release that also stars Robin Wright Penn and Hollywood veteran Piper Laurie - 'paedophilia'.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1989897,00.html

[Paedophiles object the use of staged material.]