(Montreal) The movie Hail Bitch: Misogyny in the Digital Agedirected by Léa Clermont-Dion and Guylaine Maroist, has experienced a meteoric international rise in recent months and will be presented in nearly fifteen countries.
La Ruelle Films, producer and distributor of the feature, has announced showings in Egypt, India, China, Turkey, Romania, Guinea and Burkina Faso, among others.
After a remarkable debut in Quebec last September, the shocking documentary captivated the United States during the first American screening (Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Agein English), on February 7, filling the Vermont State Capitol.
“The initial plan was to have a strong presence on screens and platforms here, then to be able to do the same for English Canada, explains in an interview Éric Ruel, producer and director of the distribution of La Ruelle Films. We also had plans to go to the United States and the European continent. »
Pleasantly surprised by the reception of the film around the world, the producer points out that the communication tools have been designed according to the different target markets.
“Just the choice of title was an issue in some countries to make sure it resonated the right way. I salute you bitch would have worked poorly in English, for example,” he adds.
The psychological thriller-like feature film details the stories of four women from two continents who have seen their lives turned upside down by waves of sexist cyberbullying.
“It’s not an easy film, we’re not going to see it for fun,” says director Guylaine Maroist. […] But when people look at it, it provokes conversation and awareness. »
The project took seven years to make it to the screen, not least because of the painstaking scriptwriting and research work. The directors also carried out more than a hundred interviews with people from the academic community in order to understand the extent of the phenomenon.
“We started filming and it became clear that the problem is that the violence women experience is constantly trivialized,” says Ms.me Maroist. […] People need to understand that the digital world is not a separate world. And these women experience violence in real life. »
A vehicle for change
In addition to the enthusiasm in cinemas and festivals, I salute you bitch has become a real lever in the fight against cyberviolence against women.
“With the development of artificial intelligence, it is quite easy to remove hateful content. If all states pass laws to hold social networks accountable and we take them to court, I think we will get there, ”says the director.
In Quebec, the “Stop Cyberviolence” petition launched last fall collected nearly 30,000 signatures and was tabled in the National Assembly. A motion in his favor was passed unanimously on December 6.
The signatories asked the provincial government to commit to establishing mandatory training within Quebec police forces on cyberviolence against women, and to adopt a law forcing social networks to remove hateful content under penalty of a fine. salty.
“We wouldn’t accept someone going to a woman’s house to threaten her with death or rape. But because it is social networks, we do not understand the repercussions, believes Mme Maroist. […] We want to raise awareness so that people realize the magnitude of the phenomenon and we take action. »
For Éric Ruel, the documentary “opens different doors to bring the film to the American public”, in particular by raising public awareness of the impacts of social networks. Rights & Democracy Vermont has also launched its own petition calling on elected officials to take concrete measures to prevent cyberviolence in the United States.
The producer said he was “very confident” of the reception of the film in France, where it will be presented for the first time on April 13, in Montpellier, during a screening organized by the Abolition34 collective.
“We believe that the potential [en France] is as big as the one here. […] We are at the start of something, and the film has already touched more than 500,000 people in Quebec and French Canada alone,” he says.
Some 293 Quebec educational establishments have also used the film or the content created by La Ruelle Films for educational purposes, adds Mr. Ruel.
“For Léa and me, it was obvious that we had to bring not only the problem, but also a solution. […] We wanted to campaign and produce content aimed at young people so that they are aware and understand that harassment is criminal,” summarizes Guylaine Maroist.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.