JANE

Drawing from over 100 hours of never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives for over 50 years, award-winning director Brett Morgen tells the story of JANE, a woman whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific consensus of her time and revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.

Set to a rich orchestral score from legendary composer Philip Glass, the film offers an unprecedented, intimate portrait of Jane Goodall — a trailblazer who defied the odds to become one of the world’s most admired conservationists.

"The footage we created the film with was discovered in 2014, and if you think about it, it was a much different world then. Most of us thought we were on the verge of having the first female president, and the country was moving in the right direction. There was hope and a sense of idealism for a lot of us. Then came Trump, and the climate changed overnight. The day before we premiered the film, the Harvey Weinstein story broke. And here we were, about to premiere a film about a young woman who overcame all sorts of structural opposition to achieve her dreams. A story about a woman who did not have to sacrifice her career in order to have a family. A woman who in many ways is one of the greatest role models we can present to our children, both boys and girls, because boys need to see strong women on screen as much as young girls do."

Brett Morgen for Deadline.com