Country: France
Year: 2025
Duration: 101'
Coline Morel is a one-of-a-kind explorer, a modern-day Calamity Jane of the Arctic. After years of extreme expeditions and polar bear encounters, she suddenly reappears in her home village in the Jura mountains, reuniting with her estranged brothers, Basile and Lolo. In the space of a few days, her life implodes—she’s fired, dumped, and confronted with her long-lost first love, Christophe. Unable to share the real reason behind her return, Coline descends into a night of chaos that upends the entire town. In the following days, she grows more silent, retreating into herself. A final hike with her brothers seems to bring her closer again—until she vanishes without a trace into Greenland’s snowy wilderness, following the wisdom of an old Inuit proverb: “If you are afraid, change your way.”
Biography
film director
Sébastien Betbeder
(Pau, France, 1975) studied at Le Fresnoy and has made numerous shorts, including Les mains d’Andréa (2006). That same year, he directed his first feature film, Nuage, selected at Locarno. In 2008, he presented La vie lointaine at the Torino Film Festival, and the next year the short Toutes les montagnes se ressemblent, directed in collaboration with Christelle Lheureux. In 2010, he shot Yoshido (Les autres vies), selected in Paris and Rotterdam. In 2012 premiered with Les nuits avec Théodore at Onde section, and the following year he won in Turin the Jury Special Prize with 2 automnes 3 hivers. He then presented in Turin the short Inupiluk (2014), and the comedies Ulysse & Mona (2018) and Tout fout le camp.
FILMOGRAFIA
La fragilité des revenants (cm, 1999), Le haut mal (cm, 2000), Des voix alentour (cm, 2003), Nu devant un fantôme (cm, 2005), Les mains d’Andréa (cm, 2006), Nuage (2007), La vie lointaine (mm, 2008), Toutes les montagnes se ressemblent (coregia Christelle Lheureux, cm, 2009), The Unbroken Line (cm, 2010), Yoshido (Les autres vies) (mm, 2010), Sarah Adams (cm, 2011), Les nuits avec Théodore (2012), 2 automnes 3 hivers (2013), Inupiluk (cm, 2014), Le film que nous tournerons au Groenland (cm, 2015), Marie et les naufragés (2016), Le voyage au Groenland (Viaggio in Groenlandia, 2016), Albin de la Simone: Dans la tête (video, 2017), Ulysse & Mona (2018), Debout sur la montagne (2019), Jusqu'à l'os (cm, 2019), Planète triste (cm, 2022), Tout fout le camp (2022), Mimi de Douarnenez (mm, 2023), Une tentative d'évasion (cm, 2024), L’incroyable femme des neiges (2025).
Declaration
film director
“L’incroyable femme des neiges is a film that combines comedy and drama. I needed this blend of genres to properly tell the story of Coline Morel, a bold and free-spirited explorer, something of a modern-day Calamity Jane or Alexandra David-Néel. Her extraordinary nature led my writing and directing process, and I felt that in order to truly accept her radical way of engaging with the world, we needed to laugh at her—and with her. I also felt it was my responsibility to create a female lead who defied all stereotypes. For that, I couldn’t imagine anyone but Blanche Gardin. Looking back, I feel incredibly lucky she accepted the role and brought to it all the humor, emotional power, and complexity I’d hoped for.”
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR: Sébastien Betbeder. SCREENPLAY: Sébastien Betbeder, with the collaboration of Mathieu Robin. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Pierre-Hubert Martin. EDITING: Julie Lena. PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dan Bevan. COSTUME DESIGN: Léa Forest. MUSIC: Ensemble 0. SOUND: Roman Dymny. CAST: Blanche Gardin, Philippe Katerine, Bastien Bouillon, Ole Eliassen, Martin Jensen, Laurent Papot, Ferdinand Redouloux, Hartmann Heilmann, Christophe Laurent Papot, Ane Marie Havmoller-Jorgensen, Clémentine Baert, Aymeric Lompret. PRODUCTION: Frédéric Dubreuil, Sarah Derny per Envie de Tempête Productions. COPRODUCTION: Pastorale Productions, Sedna Explore.
CONTACT: festival@beforfilms.com
