Feature Film

Calamity Jane

Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary

Dir. Rémi Chayé, France and Denmark, 2020, 85 min.

In French with English subtitles

For ages 6 and up

Winner of the Crystal Award for best feature at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, this lush period piece centers on the young 19th-century American heroine who would become the icon, Calamity Jane.

As she travels across the US frontier on a wagon train, young Martha Jane Cannary astonishes her fellow travelers when she breaks gender norms to lead her family’s covered wagon and take care of the horses. While she never felt freer, the brazen act brings scorn and anger from her community. Accused of stealing, Martha Jane strikes out on her own and tries to vindicate herself under a newly minted name, Calamity Jane. Her adventures, on the open frontier where men and women pioneers strive to build better lives, shape Calamity Jane into one of the legendary figures of the Wild West.

This feminist retelling shows how young Martha Jane Cannary fought against a sexist and male-dominated society to become an iconic frontierswoman.