Synopsis

“ICE WOMEN” dismantles the male-dominated narrative of Arctic research and exposes its colonial and patriarchal structures. For over a century, the Arctic was portrayed as a “discovered” space—from the perspective of white men who claimed territories that had long been inhabited and culturally rooted. The film shifts the focus to the women whose knowledge, resilience, and scientific work were systematically overlooked, thereby fundamentally questioning what we mean by “exploration.”

The film centers on three extraordinary pioneers: Josephine Peary, who gave birth to a child in the ice while her husband sought fame, and who discovered her own creative power in the isolation of Northwest Greenland; Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiat seamstress who survived alone on Wrangel Island after a failed expedition, sustained by her concern for her sick son; and Louise Arner Boyd, a wealthy explorer and self-taught scientist who financed and led seven major Arctic expeditions, combining scientific precision with innovative technology and poetic imagery. Their legacy resonates in the voices of contemporary Arctic women: Maddy Kiminaq Alvanna-Stimpfle, who preserves and passes on a language threatened with extinction; Angelika Humbert, who translates the movement of the ice into measurable signs of climate change; and Kaalannguaq Eipe Uvdloriaq, who gives a voice to daily life in Qaanaaq, one of the world’s northernmost communities.

Visually striking and narratively rich, “ICE WOMEN” weaves together rare archival treasures— including restored footage by Danish filmmaker Jette Bang and previously unpublished footage by Louise Arner Boyd—with contemporary images of the melting ice landscapes in Greenland and Alaska.

This creates a cinematic bridge between past and present, between tradition, colonial history, and a complex present. “ICE WOMEN” honors women whose greatest obstacle was never the cold.