Private Project

ICE WOMEN

ICE WOMEN boldly confronts the male-centric narrative of Arctic research, focusing on empowerment, scientific achievements, and the dual struggle against the ice and societal norms, aiming to inspire a new generation by rewriting the history of the North through the lens of resilient and adventurous women.

Intertwining historical tales of courageous women with present-day protagonists who mirror their resilience in navigating the challenges of the frozen stereotypes of Arctic exploration. For too long, the history of the North has been penned by men, and this film seeks to thaw those biases. Through empowering narratives, scientific triumphs, and the relentless struggle against both the unforgiving ice and societal norms, we rewrite the history books. Join us as we unveil empowering stories of adventurous women, celebrating their scientific achievements and revealing the formidable struggle against packed ice and societal expectations.

While male explorers and scientists claimed to “discover” and “conquer” the North, women were often written out of history — despite their essential roles in shaping our understanding of the polar world. This cinematic documentary shifts the gaze toward those women whose endurance, intellect, and perspective reveal a different Arctic story.
At its centre stand three remarkable figures. Josephine Peary, who gave birth amid the ice while her husband pursued fame, transformed isolation into authorship — documenting the Arctic with a lens both emotional and scientific. Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiat woman from Alaska, survived nearly two years alone on Wrangel Island after a failed expedition, guided by faith, love for her son, and the strength of her ancestors. Louise Arner Boyd, a self-taught American scientist and photographer, financed her own expeditions to East Greenland, producing meticulous research and imagery that bridged art and science — while defying every convention of her era.
Their stories resonate in today’s Arctic through women who continue to research, document, and protect the North. Maddy Kiminaq Alvanna-Stimpfle, an Inupiat linguist from Nome, preserves her language as a form of cultural survival. Prof. Angelika Humbert, a German glaciologist, studies the melting of Greenland’s ice sheets as a measure of planetary change. And Kaalannguaq Eipe Uvdloriaq, a mother and social worker in Qaanaaq, embodies everyday resilience in a community still marked by colonial displacement.
Visually powerful and emotionally grounded, ICE WOMEN interlaces rarely seen archival materials — including restored footage by Danish filmmaker Jette Bang and never-before-screened images from Louise Arner Boyd — with contemporary cinematography from the melting Arctic. Together, these images reveal how the act of looking itself has shaped our understanding of the North — and how women are reclaiming that gaze today.
More than a film about the Arctic, ICE WOMEN is a reflection on knowledge, belonging, and responsibility. It bridges the distance between science and story, past and present, showing how women’s research, intuition, and care continue to redefine what it means to understand — rather than to conquer — the world’s most fragile landscapes.

Content Warning:
This film contains depictions and language related to colonial violence, racism, and sexualized violence, presented within a historical and critical context.

  • Jens Becker
    Director
  • Dorothea Braun
    Director
  • Dorothea Braun
    Writer
  • Jens Becker
    Writer
  • Dorothea Braun
    Producer
  • Susanna Salonen
    Key Cast
  • Britta Kastern
    Key Cast
  • Annett Ilijew
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    EISFRAUEN
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    History, Arctic, Archive, Gender, Culture, Indigenous Voices, Decolonization
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    600,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Greenland, United States
  • Language:
    English, German, Inuktitut
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Distribution Information
  • First Hand Films
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Jens Becker, Dorothea Braun

Jens Becker is a writer, director, and dramaturg with more than 70 produced screenplays, films, and series. He studied directing at the HFF Babelsberg, was a scholarship holder at the Academy of Arts under Wim Wenders, and has been a Professor of Screenwriting at the Film University Babelsberg since 2004. His work has received numerous awards, including the Grimme Prize and the Gryphon Award.
Dorothea Braun is a producer, writer, and director focused on extraordinary stories about women and the polar regions. After studying anthropology and completing her training at the ZeLIG School for Documentary Film, she directed international documentaries and founded DOOR+BRIDGE Film. She is an alumna of EURODOC, the Berlinale Doc Toolbox, and the PROPRO Female Producers Workshop.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

At the beginning, there was a single photograph:
a woman in Arctic clothing, a rifle on her back.
I remember thinking: Why don’t I know her? Why have I never heard about women like her? The more I searched, the more I realized that the absence was not accidental. Women were present in the Arctic — travelling, researching, documenting, surviving — but they rarely became part of the dominant narrative. The “Golden Age” of exploration was told as a male story.
Working with the archives, I began to see something else as well. The photographs and films were not neutral. They were produced within a colonial framework. Indigenous people were often framed as subjects to be studied, measured, or displayed. Images carried power — and that power shaped what was remembered and what was forgotten.
ICE WOMEN grows out of this tension.
The film brings historical material into dialogue with voices of today — with women who live, research, and reflect on the Arctic in the present. It asks how we look at archival images now. What we repeat. What we question. What we choose to protect.
For me, the process became less about “correcting” history and more about taking responsibility for how history is handled today. ICE WOMEN is an attempt to hold the archive carefully — to acknowledge the colonial gaze embedded in it, and to open space for narratives that have long existed, but were rarely centered.

Sensitivity Statement
Because ICE WOMEN engages with colonial history, ethnographic archives, and Indigenous representation, our process was guided by care, transparency, and collaboration. We acknowledge that many of the historical materials in the film were created within structures of unequal power and often through a colonial gaze. Our aim is not to repeat these patterns but to contextualize and critically reflect upon them.
Historical Images & Colonial Narratives
The archival images used in the film come either directly from our historical protagonists or from the expeditions surrounding them. We foreground context in all cases: where biases exist, we name them; where the camera imposed a colonial viewpoint, we make this visible. We also incorporate selected footage by Danish filmmaker Jette Bang, whose work is widely regarded as unusually respectful within her era. In the film, even these images are framed with awareness of the colonial system in which they were produced.
We acknowledge the forced relocations, social disruptions, and histories of extraction that continue to shape life in Qaanaaq and other Arctic communities. These topics appear in the film with care and without dramatization; the focus remains on lived experience, resilience, and voice. Handling of Colonial and Gender-Based Trauma. Some archival accounts reference discrimination, survival under extreme conditions, and forms of structural, sexual and colonial violence. These are included not for shock value but to illuminate systemic inequities.
Narrative Philosophy
ICE WOMEN invites viewers to reflect on who has historically been allowed to create knowledge about the Arctic — and who has been rendered invisible. By bringing women’s perspectives to the forefront, the film reimagines the North not as a frontier to conquer but as a landscape of relationship, knowledge, and responsibility.