Tanya Naville – Shaking things up with the Femmes en Montagne festival

Updated on 2025-11-07

In this episode of the podcast, I welcome Tanya Naville, founder of the Femmes en Montagne association and the eponymous film festival.

Laurène Philippot

Laurène is the magazine's creator. An avid cyclist, hiker and trail runner, she's always keen to discover new places, especially in the mountains!

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Episode summary

Founder and director of the Femmes en Montagne association, Tanya Naville has been spearheading a film festival highlighting women in mountain sports since 2019. Through the creation of this unique project, she is working for better media representation of sportswomen, while leading awareness-raising and networking actions throughout France.

From a passion for the mountains to a reflection on gender

Tanya grew up in the mountains and practiced many disciplines: alpine skiing, mountaineering, climbing, trail running, ice climbing, ski mountaineering. For a long time, she didn’t feel confronted by gender barriers, until she became involved in the women’s high mountain group.

“Some women didn’t dare go to the head of the line, or put internal brakes on themselves. I realized that there was a real need for non-mixity training, not as an end in itself, but as a step towards more mixity.”

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It was while observing the lack of female role models in the mountain media that the idea for her association was born, in 2016: to create documentary films about inspiring female mountaineers around the world.

Creating films to inspire differently

The first documentaries filmed by the association explored the place of women in different countries – Japan, Greece, Iceland – mixing sport, culture and sociology. Tanya collaborates with her partner, Léo Wateblé, a doctor in sports science, who introduces her to gender theory. Together, they create films that are both accessible and meaningful.

“We wanted to reach a wider audience, not just one already aware of women’s issues. Foreign films allowed us to talk about equality in a different way.”

The beginnings weren’t easy: little funding, reluctant brands, projects carried out with their own funds and via crowdfunding. Despite this, the project proved a great success, with screenings at several festivals and enthusiastic feedback.

From film to festival: giving women a real place on screen

In 2019, Tanya and her team are launching the Femmes en Montagne Festival in Annecy.

“We said to ourselves: we need a place that brings together all these films about women and the mountains, to show that they exist.”

Initially organized with a budget of 4,000 euros and two volunteers, the festival grew rapidly. Covid, far from slowing the momentum, helped structure the project: a team of 13 volunteers joined the adventure and the event became a benchmark.

In 2025, 152 films were received. The 100% volunteer selection committee watches 85 hours of films to compose a balanced program across disciplines, countries and themes.

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A publication shared by Association Femmes en Montagne (@femmesenmontagne)

A concrete commitment all year round

In addition to the festival, the association carries out a number of other activities:

Raising awareness in secondary schools (up to 1,500 students per year).
The “Verres des montagnardes” (mountain women’s glassware), a convivial event to encourage women to meet up.
Relay shoots, enabling other events to show films made by women.
Network for women behind the camera, with workshops, networking and soon a professional directory.
Digital community on Discord for exchanging tips, internships, favorites and outdoor news.

Tanya also ensures that the festival is accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired audiences: “All films are hand-subtitled, and exchanges on stage are translated into sign language or transcribed live.”

Changing perceptions

Tanya has observed a positive trend in the media coverage of women’s sport since 2016, but there’s still a long way to go.

“Media coverage is essential to inspire young girls to practice. It’s also a way of breaking down prejudice, on both sides.”

She reminds us that these changes also benefit men:“Saying that a woman can be a rope leader also means allowing a man to be a second without pressure.”

In this way, the festival promotes a multi-faceted vision of the mountains: a place for performance, certainly, but also a space for emotions, sharing and reconstruction.

And tomorrow?

The association wants to continue consolidating its team, develop new regional branches and offer more initiatives for its members. Tanya also dreams of launching a “Femmes en Montagne” tour throughout France, provided she has the resources.

But his ultimate goal is clear:“I’d like one day our festival to no longer need to exist, because the mix would be real everywhere.”