Marijn Poels

Marijn Poels (Meerlo, July 1975) is an independent European documentary maker and international speaker. In February 2011 Poels won the international Dodie Spittal Award in Canada for his documentary titled The Voice of 650 Million Times One. He did something unusual by not keeping the film prize to himself, and instead giving it away to the people he had filmed. He did this by integrating the prize in a monument that he eventually had erected in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. He then made a documentary titled Down The Lane about it. On 20 August 2011 Poels was awarded The Voice of Peace medal in the Pakistan city of Lahore. This prize is awarded annually to people who work against terrorism and violence and promote human rights in Pakistan. Poels, who lives in Swolgen (Netherlands) and Berlin (Germany) makes films about international questions concerning society, economics and politics. In 2009 he completed his first book titled [between two worlds] and second book [a world of extreme]. Poels' filming style is characterised by its real-life approach to recording events. The viewer gets a practical insight of reality without any opinions attached to it.