Did you know that in the 1980s, Delphine Seyrig was working on a film about Calamity Jane? Based on poignant letters Calamity wrote to her daughter, Seyrig explored the fierce independence, free motherhood and gender fluidity of the American pioneer. In search of sources and stories, she went to Montana alongside Babette Mangolte, photographer, director and camerawoman, whom she had met when making Jeanne Dielman. Mangolte’s 16mm camera captured Seyrig’s ballad of the Wild West with warm delight. In it, the actress took on the roles of creator and researcher in turn, curious and contemplative, as she mulled over a developing storyline. Think touching personal archives, odd sorts of anecdotes round the pool (complete with E.T. the extra-terrestrial rubber rings) and feminist meditations. Lacking support from the CNC, the film was not finished. The rushes were put to bed. Then, in the 2010s, the project was resuscitated under the auspices of the Centre audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir and as a response to Trumpism. In Babette Mangolte’s hands, the edit became a palimpsest of feminist stories. Seyrig’s documents (storyboard, screenplay, letters, rushes) connected with spoken testimonies from the likes of Seyrig’s son, Duncan Youngerman, Lebanese author Etel Adnan, and the historian Giovanna Zapperi. The incompleteness of the initial work made for an open and collaborative sequel. A polyphony that met Seyrig’s wish: to create “a friendly and loving rewrite, finally more than just a single voice.”

Élodie Tamayo