HLM Pussy is the debut film of Parisian filmmaker Nora El Hourch. The film won the audience award for best feature film at the D'A Festival Cinema in Barcelona.
It is a profound reflection on sexual violence through the eyes of three teenagers. 'I understood that telling these stories would be the fight of my life,' says El Hourch. 'Society wants to talk about sexual violence, it needs it,' she says. 'HLMPussy' is out now on Blu-ray and DVD, with more information on how to buy it at www.hlmpussy.com. For confidential support, call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 or click here. The Parisian filmmaker covers different points of the spectrum of sexual violence. For El Hourch, it is also essential to focus on the most everyday practices and attitudes that remain deeply anchored in the gears of social functioning. "Female sisterhood must be accompanied by union with men; only if we fight together is there hope for change," she points out. Being a woman, young and new to the world of cinema is not the best letter of introduction to gain the trust of a producer. 'They criticized the script as stereotypical; people who have never set foot on the French outskirts said that it was too much for me with clichés,' she says of the criticism of the film's non-consensual kiss. 'They don't know how to react when a woman stands up to them," the director says of boys who have been taught that they should be the strongest, the most beautiful, and the bravest. 'There is a lot of fight left.' There are still many movies needed.