Skip to main content
Call Jane film image, director Phyllis Nagy, starring Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver

Call Jane

This event has passed

A privileged housewife in 1968 Chicago finds herself at odds with the patriarchal medical establishment when she requires a life-saving termination of pregnancy. Joy (Elizabeth Banks, in a charming and nuanced performance) encounters an underground organization called Jane Collective that provides safe abortions to women, and eventually becomes an integral part in this necessary fight.

Directed by Phyllis Nagy, Call Jane deftly balances light and dark in exploring the stories of desperate women who require abortions and the women who risk their lives for them. A timely and relevant film about reproductive justice in the year that Roe v. Wade was overturned, the film is accessible, passionate, and hugely entertaining.

We know the achievements and victories of the era Nagy depicts, and yet, because she and her fine cast bring the story to such vivid, immediate life, the final moments of Call Jane are powerful with unanticipated joy. They sting too, because we know where we are now, and the trajectory of the intervening years.”—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

Director
Cast

Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara, Chris Messina, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2022

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
18+

At Vancouver Playhouse

19+

At The Rio

121 min
Drama Human Rights & Social Justice Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Elephants in the Fog

Dir. Abinash Bikram Shah
108 min

In a remote Nepalese village, Pirati takes charge in the search for a missing girl belonging to her family of third-gender Kinnar women. A densely atmospheric thriller and a moving portrait of an embattled but resilient community.

International Village 10 Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only

RADIOHEART: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole

Dir. Peter Hilgendorf, Andrew Franks
83 min

Featuring a scintillating soundtrack of tunes going back to the ‘70s, RADIOHEART is a heartwarming celebration of one of the greatest radio DJs, Kevin Cole, whose musical tastes and influence are still reverberating across the world’s soundwaves.

International Village 9

Nous, L'orchestre De Paris

Dir. Philippe Béziat
90 min

Philippe Béziat’s documentary offers an unprecedented look at the Orchestre de Paris and the camaraderie of its 120 members. A jubilant ode to the transcendence of classical music.

International Village 8
Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story
Man in Motion film image; man using wheelchair down a street in the rain

Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story

Dir. Adrian Buitenhuis
96 min

Twenty-six months, 40,075 kilometres, 34 countries traversed in a wheelchair, and more than $26 million raised for accessibility initiatives… Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story documents the staggering accomplishments of an iconic athlete and activist.

Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only
Strong Son
Strong Son film image; two men flexing their arm muscles

Strong Son

Dir. Ian Bawa
88 min

A bodybuilder returns home to care for his ailing father in Ian Bawa's debut feature. A moving exploration of masculinity, filial duty, and the emotional distance between first-generation immigrant parents and their children.

International Village 10

Ceremony

Dir. Banchi Hanuse
84 min

Powerful and evocative, Ceremony follows the disappearance of the ooligan in Bella Coola, revealing a story of cultural survival, environmental stewardship, and the enduring relationship between the Nuxalk Nation and the land.

International Village 9 Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Producer

Robbie Brenner, David Wulf, Kevin McKeon

Screenwriter

Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi

Cinematography

Greta Zozula

Editor

Peter McNulty

Production Design

Jona Tochet

Original Music

Isabella Summers

Director

Phyllis Nagy headshot, Call Jane director

Photo by K.L. Harrison

Phyllis Nagy

Phyllis Nagy earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations and won the NY Film Critics Circle award for her adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic novel, The Price of Salt, which was released as the feature film Carol (2015), starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Nagy garnered Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for her work on the HBO film Mrs. Harris (2005), starring Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley, which also received SAG and Golden Globes nominations.

Filmography: Mrs. Harris (2005)