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.