Documentaries
GUTS
a female expedition through Africa
64' Documentary · France / Italy · 2025
What happens when women abandon rules, roles and logic to follow their GUTS until the end of the road?
Patrizia and Marie leave everything behind for a five-month, 20,000 km journey from France to Guinea-Bissau in an old 4×4, meeting women across Northwest Africa who are redefining their place in society.
From Morocco’s first female mountain guide to women’s rights activists in Mauritania and a new generation of female surfers in Senegal, GUTS is a journey through freedom, intuition and the courage to choose one’s own path.
Main credits
Written & Directed by Patrizia Bruno
Produced by Patrizia Bruno
Co-produced & Cinematography by Marie-Thérèse Pfisterer
Editing by Hunter Hulett & Jean-Charles Couty
Sound by Rémy Akaroa Duprat
Selected festivals
FIFAV – La Rochelle, France
Prix de l’Aventure · Prix Regard de Collégiens
FIC Autor – Guadalajara, Mexico
Best Low Budget Film
Sguardi Altrove Women’s International Film Festival – Milan, Italy
Special Jury Mention
Les Rendez-vous de l’Aventure – Lons-le-Saunier, France
Special Jury Mention
Bilbao Surf Film Festival – Bilbao, Spain
Jury Award
Brest Surf Film Festival – Brest, France
Best Female Film
Portuguese Surf Film Festival – Ericeira, Portugal
Best Woman in Surf Film
Mountain Film Festival – Graz, Austria
Festival International du Film Aventure & Découverte – Val d’Isère, France
No Man’s Land Film Festival – Denver, USA
Lighthouse International Film Festival – Long Beach Island, USA
Festival du Film d’Aventure de La Réunion – Réunion Island, France
Les Écrans de l’Aventure – Dijon, France
Festival des Globe-Trotters – Paris, France
Wipeout Surf Film Festival – Málaga, Spain
Pianeta Mare Film Festival – Naples, Italy
Cinema tours
France Cinema Tour – Around The Waves
Gutsy Girls Special / European Cinema Tour – Surf Film Nacht
Germany · Switzerland · Austria
Broadcast
RTS – Radio Télévision Suisse · Switzerland · 2026
Supported by Billabong Adventure Division
GUARDIANES DEL RÍO
Guardians of the River
Colombia / Italy · Coming November 2026
In 2016, Colombia’s Constitutional Court recognized the Río Atrato as a legal subject with rights to protection, conservation and restoration.
Told through the voice of the river itself, Guardianes del Río travels through Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities living along the Atrato, where the Guardians of the River are confronting illegal gold mining, pollution and extractive economies while defending a radically different relationship between people, nature and territory.
Main credits
Written & Directed by Patrizia Bruno
Original Concept & Research by Maria Francesca Cavalcanti
Produced by Fargo Film, Tilburg University & Centro Sociojurídico Siembra
Producer: Ludovico de Maistre
Executive Producer: Maria Francesca Cavalcanti
Cinematography by Massimiliano Manzo & Ludovico de Maistre
Editing by Massimiliano Manzo A.M.C.
Sound Design & Music by Emiliano Frediani
Created with
The Guardians of the River Atrato, Centro Sociojurídico Siembra, Maria Francesca Cavalcanti & Patrizia Bruno
Developed in collaboration with
Tilburg University and Centro Sociojurídico Siembra, a Colombian organization working on human rights, environmental justice and the defence of territories and communities affected by extractive activities.
Research project
LOLA – Levels of Legal Pluralism in Abya Yala
Tilburg University
Principal Investigator: Maria Francesca Cavalcanti
SERMERSUAQ
the great ice
In collaboration with the University of Barcelona and AXA Research Fund, SERMERSUAQ is a powerful documentary offering an intimate perspective on climate change in the Arctic.
It tells the story of Michael, a hunter from Qaanaaq, the northermost town of Greenland and Marc, a researcher in a quest for truth.
Different proveniences, same common scope, preserving the Sermersuaq, Greenland great ice sheet.
Main credits
Written, Directed & Produced by Patrizia Bruno
Cinematography by Patrizia Bruno
Selected Festivals & Awards
Selected Commercial Work
Selected Commercial Work
References
Selected Clients & Partners
Writing
Writing
I write reportage and long-form stories rooted in travel, culture and human encounters. My work has appeared in publications including Grazia, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and Golden Ride, and writing remains an essential part of the way I research, observe and build stories.
Press, Features & Podcasts
Expeditions
Expeditions & Adventure Travel
I grew up in my family’s expedition and adventure travel agency, AVVENTURASPORT, surrounded by paragliders, kayaks, and listening to stories of remote destinations. This is where I took my first steps into the adventure world, learning to love the unknown and discovering new places. I led my first expedition at 14—it was barely legal—and since then, I have never stopped exploring, searching, and taking people into the wildest areas of our beautiful planet. From Kyrgyzstan to the Kalahari, I have crafted the perfect adventures for companies and solo explorers around the world.
About me
About me
Born in the Italian Alps, I grew up between mountains and rivers. Today I live in Biarritz, on the Atlantic coast of France, where I film, write, surf, sleep under the stars and keep looking for stories in wild places.
I am an Italian director and author working in independent documentary film. My work explores the intersection between human experience and the social and environmental questions shaping our world, often in collaboration with universities, researchers and NGOs.
Before moving into documentary filmmaking, I worked as a television reporter and author for Rete Quattro (Mediaset), travelling internationally and reporting from the field. Together with a lifetime spent on expeditions, this shaped the way I work today: through observation, encounter and a deep connection to people and territories.
My films are rooted in the field, in human encounters and in a deep curiosity for the living world.
Patrizia Bruno
Director · Author
Films · Collaborations · Enquiries