Delphine Seyrig, besides being an iconic French actress, was active in feminist claims and in the early 1980s planned to direct and star in a film about the female legend of the Wild West, the cross-dresser Calamity Jane, based on the letters she supposedly wrote to her daughter. In 1983, Mangolte filmed her in 16mm shots in Montana, while exploring the making of the film. Mangolte returned to the material in 2011 and did extensive research into Seyrig’s archives but also into the long term importance of feminism. The documentary pays homage to Seyrig’s creative mind, but also generally addresses the relationship between feminism and motherhood. In Mangolte's words: “Not giving up is what the film had to be about, as it was Delphine’s greatest strength”.
Babette Mangolte (1941) is a French-American director, cinematographer, photographer and artist who has lived in New York since 1970. She has worked as a cinematographer with Chantal Akerman and Yvonne Rainer and has made important experimental films on the very act of looking about the American landscape, about contemporary dance and the art of performance. She is considered one of the most important artists of the American avant-garde and currently teaches at the University of San Diego in California.
Photos: Calamity Jane and Delphine Seyrig: A story, Delphine Cafe, © 2019 Βabette Mangolte, all rights of reproduction reserved
