[Editor’s Note: This is being shared with the permission of the filmmakers]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHICAGO, IL – Sep 28, 2016 – A new documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt directed by Chicago filmmaker to screen at Jane Addams Museum
Sexual harassment is a pervasive issue internationally, yet it has only recently gained more attention in the media. By intimidating and objectifying women in public spaces, harassment discourages women from working, socializing, and living a normal life. Egypt has recently been identified as the worst country for women in the Arab world, largely due to the staggering UN statistic that 99% of Egyptian women have been sexually harassed. But the epidemic not only exists abroad; according to Stop Street Harassment, 65% of women in the US have experienced street harassment, with an even higher prevalence in urban areas. This makes this topic extremely relevant for the Chicago community at large.
An award-winning documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt, “The People’s Girls,” is a crowdfunded film that is the recipient of awards from the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, International Open Film Festival, and the Ambassador Award at the Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival. It has also been featured in various media outlets, such as Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, France 24, El Mundo.
In the documentary, directors Colette Ghunim and Tinne Van Loon interview both harassers and survivors in Egypt to explore the root of this problem. They talk with women who have fought back and also conduct hidden camera social experiments. Before filming the documentary, Ghunim and Van Loon created a short clip titled “Creepers on the Bridge”, which captured the feeling of being stared at and catcalled in the streets of Cairo. It went viral, quickly gaining over 2 million views worldwide. They then created a Kickstarter campaign to fund their documentary on sexual harassment in Egypt. Over the following months, they were interviewed by many international news sources. They received contributions from over 500 backers worldwide on Kickstarter and gain a fanbase of over 11,000 people on Facebook to create “The People’s Girls”.
In honor of International Day of the Girl, the Illinois Humanities Council and MALA will host a screening of the documentary on Tuesday, October 11 at 6 p.m. at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Co-director Colette Ghunim will also be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
Order tickets through their Eventbrite page, which has a suggested donation amount of $10. These funds will go towards a campaign to conduct free screenings in six different locations across Egypt in February 2016.
The People’s Girls – Synopsis
Sexual harassment has been a growing problem in Egypt over the last few years, especially in Cairo. UN Women reported that over 99% of Egyptian women have suffered from sexual harassment in their lifetime. Due to the extensive media coverage on the issue, the Egyptian government introduced anti-sexual harassment legislation, making it possible for harassers to face years in prison.
In September of 2014, filmmakers Colette Ghunim and Tinne Van Loon created a viral video, Creepers on the Bridge, showing the haunting stares of sexual harassers in Cairo’s streets. They now bring you The People’s Girls, a documentary film which through a series of interviews and social experiments takes a closer look at Egypt to see who is to blame for harassment and how women are fighting back. Because patriarchal societies often overlook women’s rights violations, this documentary serves as a catalyst for public debate not only in Egypt but internationally, as prominent cases of sexual harassment frequently occur on a global scale.
Website: www.thepeoplesgirls.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/benaatelnas
Twitter: @thepeoplesgirls
