THE SERIES
1 year accross Europe
12 × 26-minute episodes
For a year, I’ll live by the rhythm of these huts. Twelve 26-minute episodes, fully immersed, to tell the story of this parallel world. From Scandinavian hikers’ cabins to shepherds’ huts in the Pyrenees, from Scottish bothies to Italy’s most spectacular shelters. Wood, stone or corrugated metal; mountain ridges, coastlines, forests or cliff faces : Europe’s huts reflect an extraordinary diversity and a heritage that has yet to be truly documented. The series follows the cycle of the seasons: the harshness of winter, the renewal of spring, the energy of summer, the melancholy of autumn. Each season brings its own landscapes, encounters, and light.
THE FACE OF THE HUTS
Gimme Shelters sets out to meet the people who bring these places to life: shepherds, mountaineers, skiers, nature enthusiasts, and more. Each episode puts the spotlight on characters whose stories are deeply connected to this world. Some will be identified before the journey begins, but the filming will deliberately leave plenty of room for the unexpected and for spontaneous encounters, because they are an essential part of the spirit of these huts. Meeting strangers for an evening, who may perhaps become true friends.
A Series Without Borders
To make the series accessible to the people it sets out to meet, an English-subtitled version is already guaranteed. But we hope to make it available very soon in Italian, Spanish, and other languages...
OV : French 🇫🇷
Subtitled : English 🇬🇧 Italian 🇮🇹 Spanish🇪🇸
1001 WAYS TO EXPERIENCE NATURE AND ESCAPE AROUND THE HUTS
ICE CLIMBING
SKI TOURING
SNOWSHOEING
WINTER
PARAGLIDING KAyAK FISHING
SUMMER
MOUNTAIN BIKIng HIKING ALPINISM
Horse WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY HUNTING
AUTONOME
Et autant d'activités que la série abordera au grès des saisons.
SPRING
NOT JUST LEISURE ACTIVITIES, BUT ALSO PROFESSIONS
Gimme Shelters also sets out to meet the people who work around these huts.
A special focus is given to the age-old profession of shepherding. Life in a hut for four months of the year, as well as their remarkable coexistence with those who share these same places outside the summer grazing season.
Forest rangers agents also play an important role in the life of these huts, which they share with other nature enthusiasts.
Not to mention all the professionals, associations, and volunteers across Europe who work to maintain, restore, and preserve this heritage, while also helping it evolve.
We’ll set out to meet the architects behind some of Europe’s most modern huts, as well as passionate individuals who dedicate their time to caring for these places and, in some cases, giving treasures from the past a second life.
We’ll discover the work of the Tous à Poêle association in France, the various Alpine Clubs, the Mountain Bothies Association in Scotland, and DNT in Norway.
THE TRAVELLING GUESTBOOK
I’ve been working on this project for the past four years, visiting more than 350 huts along the way and already spending nearly a full year up there. On January 1, 2027, I’ll set off for good: one full year, with my dog Elvis by my side, my guitar, and a notebook that will travel from hut to hut, filled by the people I meet along the way.
Just like the guestbooks found in each hut, they’ll be able to leave a message, a thought, a personal account, or a drawing. This travelling notebook will first help shape the voice-over of the series, and will later be enriched with photographs from the journey and my own reflections, before ultimately being published as a book.
This object will preserve an enduring record of this year-long journey, while taking us even deeper into the world of Gimme Shelters.
