"I think to some extent what they're accusing me of is putting Dakota through some ordeal or a simulation of rape, but that's not the case," says Kampmeier. "The scene was never run through from start to finish; it was shot in increments, over and over, never in a single take. The construction creates the impression of the violence, but doesn't represent the feeling on the set or something that might have traumatized Dakota, especially since there had been so much rehearsal.

Despite her problems financing the movie, Kampmeier was surprised by the vehemence of the reaction to its plot details. "I was naive — I had no idea this would come," she says. "Our decision was to not respond to any of it 'cause everything that's been written or said about us is false. But at a certain point it was so upsetting to read lie after lie and be powerless to change the public perception. I finally had to stop focusing on that and get back to the film."

Robin Wright Penn and Dakota Fanning in Hounddog.

Through it all, Kampmeier says, Fanning and her team never wavered. "When potential investors tried to change the script or would, for example, ask to remove the rape scene, they said, 'This scene stays as is.' They understood the rape is part of that character's journey."

"I've been working with Dakota since she was five, and this is something we haven't seen her do," says Cindy Osbrink, Fanning's agent. "Something that really challenged her talent. Hounddog was one of the best experiences of her life, a story that needs to be told, and she tells it with her soul as no one else can."

Kampmeier was still in post-production at press time; she says that the title could change and that the licensing of the music, including several Elvis tracks, was not yet in place. "Again, that all has to do with money," she says. "I have no reason to believe the Elvis estate will have any objections, and we have a great music guy working on it." The movie does not yet have a distributor; a rough cut was submitted to the Sundance Film Festival.

"I'm not a political filmmaker," says Kampmeier, still visibly shaken by the controversy. "I'm just trying to tell one particular story about one particular girl. I didn't set out to answer any big questions." She is talking with Gatien about another project, a biopic. Though she won't go into more detail, it "absolutely does not have a rape in it," she says, laughing.

Henry Cabot Beck is a freelance writer based in Arizona.