The stop-motion short film “Anne Bonny: Rising Tides” focuses on the early years of Anne Cormac. The Irish daughter of a plantation owner in early 18th-century South Carolina later became famous as the pirate Anne Bonny. Her story is particularly well-known today as she is one of the few female pirates in the Western world.

Although there are many media adaptations of Anne’s life – including the novel “The Pirate Queen” by Pamela Jekel and the American adventure series “Black Sails” by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine – there are very few credible historical sources about her life. The narrative framework of the short film is therefore based on a compilation of legends and stories surrounding Anne Bonny.

The short film is designed as a trailer introducing the four central characters. It begins with Anne Cormac, who grows increasingly dissatisfied with her life in Charlestown and develops a desire to go to sea through her interactions with her father’s trade partners. Anne and her father, William Cormac, have become estranged since her mother’s death, and their relationship is marked by growing conflict.

As a distraction from her dreary everyday life, Anne turns to the pirate Benjamin Hornigold, a business associate of her father who is a frequent guest in their home. One day, Hornigold brings a fugitive acquaintance, James Bonny, to one of their gatherings. Bonny, a petty smuggler and sailor, catches Anne’s attention as she sees in him an opportunity to escape Charlestown and explore the world.