From November 2 to 5, the Femmes en Montagne festival will feature 34 short and feature-length films highlighting women and gender diversity in the mountains.
Created in 2019 by Tanya Naville, the Women in the Mountains Festival has already made a name for itself in the world of film festivals. Last year, 2700 spectators attended its screenings. The themes of the films are travel, outdoor sports, cultural discoveries and portraits of women in the mountains. This year in Annecy, no fewer than 34 productions have been selected by the organizers. In addition, 15 workshops and masterclasses on mountain themes will be held alongside the film screenings. If you're not in Annecy, the films selected by the festival will also be accessible online thanks to the digital pass from November 2, 2023 to January 2, 2024.
Here is a selection of the 34 films selected for this 2023 edition that we recommend you go and see. Find out more about the Femmes en Montagne Festival at this address.
UTA The climb for Kosovo
In 2017, 34-year-old Uta Ibrahimi became the first inhabitant of Kosovo to climb Mount Everest. Her goal was to help the young people of her country turn the page on war and create a better future for their country. This film looks back at Uta's inspiring life, from her youth in a conflict zone, her struggles against gender stereotypes, to her journey to the top of the world.
To the mind
Clara Domas: "How do you deal with an injury? How do you re-educate your mind as well as your body? I've just had my first injury and I'm very apprehensive about what lies ahead: returning to sport, dealing with the trauma and the fears that go with it. Making this film is a personal therapy to tackle the subject of mental health after a sports injury... To go in search of the different possibilities and resources available to us to train our minds. Move forward in this adventure by meeting people who have experienced it or whose profession it is, to find answers and advice. To bear witness to my journey through all my apprehensions and the rediscovery of my body, so that others can identify with it."
Via Sedna
Eight women. One sailboat. A spirit of adventure. Last June, mountaineers and sailors set sail from La Rochelle aboard the expedition yacht "Northabout", for a three-month expedition to Greenland. The voyage "to take the time to experience the real adventure" before reaching the Scoresbysund fjord will mark the start of climbing activities for the mountaineers, with the idea of opening up new climbing routes on "big walls". A sharing of experience and skills in sailing and climbing, under the aegis of "Via Sedna", whose etymology expresses a profound respect for nature, the environment and local cultures.
Rise
In her new film, Juliette Willmann opens up unreservedly about this turning point in her career, the importance of knowing how to give up in order to progress, her sensations, her fears, the difficulties she encounters, but also the happiness she rediscovers through this new apprenticeship. An original approach, full of humility. Between the Argentière basin, at 4,122m on the Aiguille Verte, the Whymper couloir at 55°, the voie des Z at 50°, the Couturier couloir, the Aiguille Pourrie... Juliette offers us 22 minutes of mountain with a capital M around Chamonix, where she lets us experience her new apprenticeship, accompanied by her accomplice and mountain guide, Pierre Idris Mehdi.
What counts
Anne-Lise Rousset lives in Haute-Savoie with her husband Adrien and Faustin. She divides her time between her work as a country vet, her passion for running and her family life. Adrien plans Anne-Lise's training sessions and organizes the preparation for her next objective - to capture the women's record for the GR20, an emblematic trail on the French island of Corsica.
Lapland Explorer
Nika, current Guinness World Record holder for the longest unassisted kiteboarding trip, suffered a life-changing accident in 2019 that sent her to hospital for over a year. Still recovering from the complete reconstruction of her foot, she's already imagining her new challenge: crossing Lapland. And if she goes, she goes by her own rules: alone and unsupported. In April 2022, she set off on the first solo crossing of Finnish and Norwegian Lapland, using only her skis, kites and a sled... and it was quite an adventure!
ONE DEGREE
ONE DEGREE° is above all the story of an adventure... A kitesurfing adventure, a human adventure, in direct contact with Nature. An adventure at the crossroads of sport and awareness-raising in the face of the mutations our environment is currently undergoing. Embark on a journey through the Andes and then the Himalayas to encounter the world's highest glacial lakes, at altitudes of over 5000m. This high-mountain journey continues an approach begun in the Alps, where navigating these sentinels of the climate led the sporting duo to a new awareness. Through images and emotions, immerse yourself in the world of these adventurers: the challenge, the surpassing of oneself, but also the questions and doubts. But always with wonder as the keystone. You'll set out to break a world altitude record at the very limits of kitesurfing's human and material possibilities. You'll be amazed by the incredible colors of the high mountains and the turquoise lakes. You'll be moved by the suffering of glaciers, its causes and consequences.... One degree can change everything on Earth... One Degree° changed everything for them...