After Jolie’s account of the casting call was made public, it sparked a backlash online – with many pointing out how “cruel” and “disturbing” such a process would be on the children.

Now Jolie has responded to the backlash, saying it was a “pretend exercise”.

As reported by Huffington Post, she said in a statement: “Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and wellbeing of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present.

“Parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand every day, to ensure everyone had all they needed. And above all to make sure that no one was in any way hurt by participating in the recreation of such a painful part of their country's history.”

Angelina Jolie responds to backlash over film’s controversial audition process