A hunt for surf along the western coast of Africa, Marie and Patrizia (German and Italian women living in France) drove from Biarritz, France, down the western coast of Africa, to Guinea-Bissau and back in their off-road 4x4, “Petra”.
For 20,000 KM, they lived in Petra. Marie and Patrizia surfed, camped, off-roaded, trekked, overcame car breakdowns and met with incredible women in each African country (Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau). They captured the women’s inspiring stories about how they had the courage to listen to their inner voices in search for their meaning in society, and empowered and paved the way for more women to do the same.
The stories uncovered and the memories made on this 4.5 month long journey will be presented in 2024 in the documentary GUTS: A female expedition through Africa.
GUTS is a moving tale that gives a new perspective on female travel, women empowerment, and reconnection with nature and freedom.
The theme of the film is to illuminate the moments when intuition plays a crucial role and to reinforce that we listen to our intuition, our GUTS. It also symbolizes having the GUTS to do the unthinkable, to pursue a wild idea, to inspire others to make the ideas happen regardless of the limitations or perceived dangers that lie ahead.
Patrizia and Marie planned and co-produced this journey one year leading up to their departure date in late December 2022.
I met my friends in Morocco in January 2023 for one month (of the 4.5 total months the women were on the road) to capture motion and stills for a portion of the documentary.
We worked with Billabong Women’s Europe to capture some storytelling imagery and video for their Adventure Division 2023 line! Below are a few images from the blog. Illustrations by Patrizia Bruno.
Click the link to see the full blog published on their website.
