HEADING TO 9000 €!

Thanks to your enthusiasm, generosity and confidence, we reached 125% of our first financial goal!

With these first 8000 euros raised, we are able to pay for the editing, the sound mixing of the film and the calibration of the images! But the fundraising campaign doesn’t stop there because making a film requires much more than edited images and good sound!

So, ahead of the curve: aim for 9000 euros!

MY PROJECT IN 1 MINUTE

I walked 2150 kilometers in 120 days, crossed the eight countries of the Alpine arc and climbed 135,000 meters of altitude from Slovenia to Monaco to document the work of women who have chosen the mountains as their living environment : refuge warden, high mountain guide, professional skier, shepherdess, climbing instructor, mountain rescue teams trainer.

My aim: to draw portraits of inspiring women and gather their expertise on a rapidly changing environment; to confront solitude and live a dream beyond all expectations.

Via Alpina, in the footsteps of pioneer women will be the documentary film resulting from this adventure to meet these professional women of the mountain and myself.

WHY THIS FILM?

Via Alpina, in the footsteps of pioneer women is a timely project linked with current topics :

- The feminization of mountaineering and the evolutions of mountain professions are subjects I want to document and give visibility to.

- Nowadays, ecological and climatic issues are paramount and particularly visible in the mountains (melting glaciers, falling lake levels, drought...).

Via Alpina, in the footsteps of pioneer women will be an opportunity to raise awareness of the need to protect these spaces and their inhabitants, fauna and flora and humans alike.

- At a time of ecological crisis, I choose the gentlest form of mobility : walking. At a time when our daily lives are speeding up, I'm slowing down.

AN ALPINE ADVENTURE: EXTRACT FROM A LOGBOOK

After four months of walking alone, one thing seems certain: uncertainty is the spice of adventure. Who would have bet that a wind turbine would be more useful than a solar panel, or that August would become my favorite month of the winter? Who would have thought that my filtering gourd would arouse the envy of a fox, and my frugal daily diet that of many of my ostentatious contemporaries? In reality, the unpredictability of events goes far beyond the anecdotal. It teaches me, along the way, to abandon myself to living. My tent for a roof, my backpack for a home and my camera in hand, I walk determinedly towards the unknown. I'm off to meet some pioneer women mountain professionals whose path is far from being all mapped out.

6 INTERVIEWS WITH WOMEN MOUNTAIN PROFESSIONALS

Federica MINGOLLA: Italian mountain guide and unconditional fan of pistachio ice cream. Former climbing competitor, she now excels at big routes in natural environments. In 2022, she opened a big wall (a route requiring several days of climbing) in the Pamir Ataï. In 2023, she made the first free ascent of El bizcochuelo on El Mocho (Patagonia) with Lise Billon. Recently, she was part of the “K2-70” expedition, a 100% all-female Italian-Pakistani expedition.

Ramona PISCIOLI: Swiss shepherdess and cheese-maker, she admits to playing Candy Crush in her spare time. Based in Sonogno, in the canton of Ticino, she has a herd of goats as well as cows. She makes formaggio misto (half cow's milk, half goat's milk cheese) on her summer pasture at an altitude of 1,800 meters. A mother of two, she only conceives her work and life in the mountains as a family.

Alpu ERBIER E G Freeride World Tour - Claudia Ledererarr

Elisabeth GERRITZEN: Swiss high-level freeride skier, Level 5 in crossword puzzle. Winner of the Xtreme in 2019, she became freeride world champion in 2021. She denounces gender inequalities in the ski industry and comes out as a lesbian after her victory to give visibility to gender minorities.

Marjorie JUAREZ: French climbing instructor, desperately in search of an accessible harness for pregnant women. She sees climbing as a way of expressing herself and of surpassing her limits, both mental and physical. She offers me a final luxury bivouac to conclude my crossing of the Alps: a night in a portaledge on the cliffs facing Monaco.

Alice COLDEFY: rescue instructor at the CNISAG (National Center for Ski and Mountaineering Instruction of the Gendarmerie), she devours theater drama critics for breakfast. Originally from Paris, she settled in Chamonix to make a living from her passion: the mountains. She started as a volunteer deputy gendarme (mountain police force), then became a high mountain guide and then gained skills until joining the PGHM (High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon) as a mountain first aid worker. Today she passes on her knowledge to the National Mountaineering School and the Yunnan Fire Rescue Division in China.

AN INTROSPECTION

120 days of walking, 120 days of writing. My steps and my words sketched out a definition of adventure, drew up portraits of inspiring women, questioned the few certainties I had left, clarified my thoughts.

In this film, I hope to capture the mix of vulnerability and strength I felt during the walk, share excerpts from my logbook and give space to existential doubts, reflections on society and emotions.

EXCERPT FROM THE LOGBOOK:

October 22, day 109. Firsts lights on the snow-dusted peaks: daybreak. I lie down and think about this journey I began almost 4 months ago. I think back to the lakes of the Memmingerhütte where I had slept lulled by the lapping of the water. I relive the descent from hell on the cliff in Slovenia. I picture the Caldarini bivacco and its majestic ibex. I imagine myself in Monaco and my stomach knots. I cry a little then blame myself. How are you no longer able to live in the present moment? Why think about the past and the future when the mountains are still holding out their arms to you? Why waste these last kilometers ruminating, fearing the arrival? Have you never dreamed of the sea on the worst days? The truth is, no. In difficult moments, I found comfort in the warmth of my sleeping bag and the sweet taste of tea rather than in the prospect of an early end. Dry your tears, the outside awaits you.

MINIMALISM: ARTISTIC CHOICE AND LIFE CHOICE

Via Alpina, in the footsteps of the pioneer women shows the luxury of simplicity. It is about reducing technical means to the essentials to demonstrate the sobriety and efficiency that life among the summits requires:

- a Sony Alpha 7 IV hybrid camera

- a single lens (transtandard 28-70 mm, f2.8)

- three Rodes Wireless microphones for interviews

- three batteries

- a solar panel to be energy autonomous

A LOW-CARBON JOURNEY

The journey through the Alps and the filming of the film were carried out using soft mobility. I travelled to Ljubljana by bus, crossed the Alpine arc on foot, then hitchhiked back to Grenoble from Monaco. The additional interviews conducted after my crossing were conducted by bike, train and bus (except one by car, to be honest).

My ecological values and my sensitivity to all kinds of life on earth make my film an ode to nature. I paid close attention to the fauna and flora along my path, so they will be omnipresent in my documentary film.

I advocate for plane-free travel and I’ve made sobriety a way of life.

PRESS COVERAGE

To read

Monaco Matin. February 27th, 2025. De la Slovénie à Monaco, elle lance un film pour dresser le portrait des pionnières de la montagne rencontrées sur son chemin.

Le Dauphiné Libéré. February 25th, 2025. Zoé Lemaitre sort son premier documentaire, à travers les Alpes.

Alpine Mag. February 3rd, 2025. Teaser : Via Alpina, sur les pas des pionnières à travers les Alpes.

Carnets d'aventure. October-november 2024. Traverser l'arc alpin à pied, au féminin et en solitaire.

Alpine Mag. March 22nd, April 2nd and April 5th, 2024. La grande traversée des Alpes : une femme sur les pas des pionnières ÉPISODE 1, ÉPISODE 2 et ÉPISODE 3

Monaco Matin. November 3rd, 2023. Elle achève son défi sportif suspendue sur un portaledge à la Tête de Chien à la Turbie.

To listen

Podcast Les Frappés. March 25th, 2025. Mettre en lumière les femmes des Alpes avec Zoé Lemaitre.

De Vives Voies, le podcast. January 30th, 2025. Via Alpina, sur les pas des pionnières ÉPISODES 1 et 2

Webradio Allô la planète. October 1st, 2023 : Itinérance quand tu nous tiens. 25 octobre 2024. Voyages lents, rencontres vraies.

Radio Grand Lac. May 15th, 2025. La Nature et vous Zoé Lemaitre.

To look

TéléGrenoble. February 14th, 2025. Si on parlait 14/02/2025 : La traversée des Alpes, le fond en forme, ça tisse des liens !

Via Alpina, sulle orme delle donne pioniere

Via Alpina, sulle orme delle donne pioniere