This film is part of Rentals
Call Jane
Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in this confident directorial debut from Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy about a network of women providing safe abortions in 1960s America.
Director: Phyllis Nagy
Overview
It’s 1968, five years before the landmark ruling in Roe v Wade, and abortion is not yet a constitutional right in America. When suburban housewife Joy (Elizabeth Banks) is denied a termination for a pregnancy that threatens her life, she seeks the help of ‘Jane’, an underground network led by Sigourney Weaver’s no-nonsense Virginia, who provide safe abortions for women in need. Joy’s subsequent feminist awakening forms the film’s main arc, but its real pleasures – and its power – lie in its depiction of community and resistance across social and political divides. At a time when access to abortion in America is under threat, Call Jane is an urgent reminder of the freedoms once again at stake.
Screened at BFI London Film Festival 2022.
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