The Donner Party

The Donner Party (2009)

Survival lies within

Based on the real events of The Donner Party tragedy. The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American settlers caught up in the western expansion of the 1840s. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-1847, a number of the trapped settlers joined together in a final effort to reach California and organize a rescue party.

Date of release
2009-10-23
TMDB
4.7 / 10 (21)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Drama, Western
Director
Terrence Martin

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: California

The Donner Party is a 2009 American period Western drama film written and directed by Terrence Martin, and starring Crispin Glover, Clayne Crawford, Michele Santopietro, Mark Boone Junior, and Christian Kane. It is based on the true story of the Donner Party, an 1840s westward traveling group of settlers headed for California. Becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains, with food increasingly scarce, a small group calling themselves "The Forlorn Hope" turned to cannibalism. The Forlorn was the working title for the film.

Production

As well as being Martin's directorial debut, The Donner Party was production company Anacapa Entertainment's first feature film. It premiered at the Austin Film Festival on October 23, 2009, Its DVD release was three months later on January 26. Shooting was swift, with principal photography at the Donner Pass, California taking only 12 days. Originally, the work had a higher budget, with greater use of child stars and a longer shooting schedule.

The soundtrack was done by the Aspiro Choir under Mary Amond O'Brien.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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