Mathilde's Misses

Mathilde organises the world's very first 'Miss Homeless' pageant. Fifteen women compete for the main prize: one year rent-free housing. Contestant Pascale hopes that winning will give her back custody of her 7-year-old daughter.

Mathilde's Misses uses the controversy of the election as a backdrop to a portrait of women living on the edge of society by following three of the participants over 18 months. What impact does this extraordinary pageant have on their lives?

'De Madammen van Mathilde' (52 minutes - 2012) is a documentary by Pieter De Vos, released on the international day of fight against poverty.

'Mathilde's Misses' was filmed as 'direct cinema'. We spent many hundreds of hours with the protagonists over a year and a half. The camera recorded events as they unfolded.

Together with editor Geert Veuskens, 120 hours of footage were edited into a powerful 52-minute film.

'Mathilde's Misses' was broadcast on Acht TV and NPO. Articles in Knack, Gazet Van Antwerpen, Vice Magazine and on Radio 1 highlighted the documentary.

'Mathilde's Misses' was awarded the Prize for Up-and-coming Talent of the Flemish Association for Film Criticism, presented by director Robbe De Hert during the Festival of Social Film.

After its television broadcast, the film was made available to midfield organisations through a digital campaign. We developed a website in four languages, where the film could be watched for free or requested for screening, together with an educational package on homelessness.

Dozens of screenings around the world followed: at the legendary Cineteca in Madrid, in the city park of Cusco and at a social film festival in New York. But 'Mathilde's Misses' also brought people together in Colombia, Slovakia, Finland, India and the Netherlands to discuss poverty reduction.