Maryam Henein is a Canadian-born

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

practitioner,

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She directed the documentary ''

Vanishing of the Bees ''Vanishing of the Bees'' is a 2006 documentary film by Hive Mentality Films & Hipfuel Films, directed by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein and released in the United Kingdom in October 2009. The story is centered on the sudden disappearanc ...

'' narrated by

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...

Early life and education

Henein is a native of

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. She interviewed documentarian

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (November 7, 1970 – May 23, 2024) was an American documentary filmmaker, writer, and television producer. He directed 23 films and was the producer of nearly 70 films throughout his career. Spurlock received acclaim f ...

for ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building * ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly under a flat-roof, tha ...

'', and also produced documentaries for the UK's

September Films September Films is a British independent television and film production company, which is a division of UK independent production and distribution group DCD Media. It specialises in factual entertainment, documentaries and features, reality progra ...

on subjects that include pimps, drug dealers and porn stars in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area. She was also part of ''First Apartment'', a reality show webcast in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the now-defunct website crushedplanet.com, produced by Joe and Harry Gantz of ''

Taxicab Confessions ''Taxicab Confessions'' is a television series of hidden camera documentaries that aired on HBO from 1995 through 2006. When passengers enter the cab, they are recorded with several small cameras hidden in the taxi. The producer prompts passen ...

''.

Career

''Vanishing of the Bees''

With

George Langworthy George Langworthy is an American film director, producer and writer. He is best known for his work on '' Cake: A Wedding Story'' (2007) and ''Vanishing of the Bees'' (2009). Early life and education Langworthy attended Rice University and spen ...

, Henein directed the 2010 documentary (which took five years to produce), ''

'' with

narrating the film.

HoneyColony

Henein is the founder of HoneyColony Inc., a member-supported online magazine that hosts a number of optimized-health and investigative writers called "Hive Advisers"..

''Of Bees & Men''

Henein continues to work on projects involving bees and contamination of the food supply. She is working on a memoir titled ''Of Bees & Men'' and launched a year-long Save the Bees campaign in June 2014.

Controversy

Henein is an adherent of the

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

that the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic was planned by authorities. Henein was the subject of a 2020 report by

Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...

, a liberal media watchdog group, documenting her website's medical misinformation, such as the false claim that vaccines cause autism. Henein was one of several individuals who subsequently received written warnings from the US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

over the advertisement of

chelated Chelation () is a type of bonding of ions and their molecules to metal ions. It involves the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central metal atom. These l ...

silver, vitamin C, and magnesium for preventative use against

. Henein maintained she did not commit any fault, and amended her website in accordance with the FDA's requirements.

Filmography

Film

Notes

References

External links

Official site of HoneyColony.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henein, Maryam American documentary filmmakers American women journalists Journalists from Montreal Film directors from Montreal American people of Egyptian descent Canadian people of Egyptian descent Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian documentary film directors Living people Canadian women film directors American women documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women documentary filmmakers