Jane Campion

Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion Template:Post-nominals (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Best known for her feature films with themes of rebellion and often focused on women in leading roles who are outsiders in society, Campion is regarded among one of the prominent female filmmakers in women's cinema.

Campion made her film debut Sweetie (1989), and continues to directing feminist films An Angel at My Table (1990), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Holy Smoke! (1998), and Bright Star (2009). She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she has received two Academy Awards altogether. She also co-created the television series Top of the Lake (2013) and received numerous Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Palme d'Or (both feature and short), a Silver Lion award and a Directors Guild of America Award, and nominations of three Primetime Emmy Awards. Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.

Early life

Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the second daughter of Edith Campion (born Beverley Georgette Hannah), an actress, writer, and heiress; and Richard M. Campion, a teacher, and theatre and opera director.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="McHugh">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her maternal great-grandfather was Robert Hannah, a well-known shoe manufacturer, the founder of Hannahs Shoe Companies, for whom Antrim House was built. Her father came from a family that belonged to the fundamentalist Christian Exclusive Brethren sect.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She attended Queen Margaret College and Wellington Girls' College.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Along with her sister, Anna, a year and a half her senior, and brother, Michael, seven years her junior, Campion grew up in the world of New Zealand theatre.<ref name="McHugh"/> Their parents founded the New Zealand Players.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Campion initially rejected the idea of a career in the dramatic arts and graduated instead with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975.<ref name="McHugh"/>

In 1976, she enrolled in the Chelsea Art School in London and travelled throughout Europe. She earned a graduate diploma in visual arts (painting) from the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney in 1981. Campion's later film work was shaped in part by her art school education; she has, even in her mature career, cited painter Frida Kahlo and sculptor Joseph Beuys as influences.<ref name="McHugh"/>

Campion's dissatisfaction with the limitations of painting<ref name="McHugh"/> led her to filmmaking and the creation of her first short, Tissues, in 1980. In 1981, she began studying at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, where she made several more short films and graduated in 1984.<ref>Mark Stiles, "Jane Campion", Cinema Papers, December 1985, pp. 434–435, 471</ref>

Career

1982–1989

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Jane Campion at the 47th Venice International Film Festival in 1990

Campion's first short film, Peel (1982), won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and other awards followed for the shorts Passionless Moments (1983), A Girl's Own Story (1984), and After Hours (1984). After leaving the Australian Film and Television School, she directed an episode for ABC's light entertainment series Dancing Daze (1986), which led to her first TV film, Two Friends (1986), produced by Jan Chapman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her feature debut, Sweetie (1989), won international awards.

1990–2006

Further recognition came with An Angel at My Table (1990), a biopic about the life of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, from a screenplay written by Laura Jones. Widespread recognition followed with The Piano (1993), which won the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival,<ref name="festival-cannes.com">Template:Cite web</ref> Best Director from the Australian Film Institute, and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1994. At the 66th Academy Awards, Campion was the second woman ever to be nominated for Best Director for her movie The Piano.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Campion's 1996 film The Portrait of a Lady, based on the Henry James novel, featured Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Barbara Hershey and Martin Donovan. Holy Smoke! (1999) saw Campion teamed with Harvey Keitel for a second time (the first being The Piano), this time with Kate Winslet as the female lead. In the Cut (2003), an erotic thriller based on Susanna Moore's bestseller, provided Meg Ryan an opportunity to depart from her more familiar onscreen persona. In 2006 she produced Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story.

2009–present

Her 2009 film Bright Star, a biographical drama about poet John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and his lover Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.Template:Citation needed In an interview with Jan Lisa Huttner, Campion discussed how she focused on Fanny's side of the story, pointing out that only two of the film's scenes did not feature her.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Campion created, wrote, and directed the TV mini-series Top of the Lake,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which received near universal acclaim,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> won numerous awards—including, for its lead actress Elisabeth Moss, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries—and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Campion was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Jane Campion in 2014

She was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and Short Film sections at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival<ref name="CampionCannes">Template:Cite web</ref> and the head of the jury for the main competition section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="Cannes2014">Template:Cite news</ref> When Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan received the Prix du Jury for his film Mommy, he said that Campion's The Piano "made me want to write roles for women—beautiful women with soul, will and strength, not victims or objects." Campion responded by rising from her seat to give him a hug.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, it was announced that Campion was nearing a deal to direct an adaptation of Rachel Kushner's novel The Flamethrowers.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2015, Campion confirmed that she would co-direct and co-write a second season of Top of the Lake with the story moved to Sydney and Harbour City, Hong Kong, and with Elisabeth Moss reprising her role as Robin Griffin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sequel series titled Top of the Lake: China Girl was released in 2017. Shot and set in Sydney, Top of the Lake: China Girl features Alice Englert, Campion's daughter, in a lead role as Robin's biological daughter. The series also features Ewen Leslie, David Dencik and Nicole Kidman.

In 2019, Campion's first film in a decade was announced, an adaptation of Thomas Savage's novel The Power of the Dog. The film was written and directed by her and was released in 2021,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> having premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where Campion was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Direction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was critically acclaimed internationally, winning numerous awards and nominations for the direction, screenplay, and performance of the cast of actors.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Campion earned three nominations in the respective categories for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture at the Golden Globe Awards, AACTA International Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and Satellite Awards. Campion issued an apology to Serena and Venus Williams following criticism of her acceptance speech for Critics Choice for Best Director, in which Campion said, "And you know, Serena and Venus, you are such marvels. However, you do not play against the guys — like I have to." Her apology included, "I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved," she said. "I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2022, the film received 12 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, leading that year's Oscar nominations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, and Best Supporting Actor for both Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Campion became the first woman to receive multiple Best Director nominations, and she won Best Director for the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is also the first woman to win Best Director without also winning a corresponding Best Picture.

Personal life

In 1992, Campion married Colin David Englert, an Australian who worked as a second unit director on The Piano.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their first child, Jasper, was born in 1993 but lived for only 12 days.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Their second child, Alice Englert, was born in 1994; she is an actress. The couple divorced in 2001.<ref name=nzherald>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reception

In V.W. Wexman's Jane Campion: Interviews (1999), critic David Thomson describes Campion "as one of the best young directors in the world today."<ref>V. W. Wexman. Jane Campion: Interviews. Roundhouse Publishing. 1999. Template:ISBN.</ref> In Sue Gillett's "More Than Meets The Eye: The Mediation of Affects in Jane Campion's Sweetie", Campion's work is described as "perhaps the fullest and truest way of being faithful to the reality of experience"; by utilising the "unsayable" and "unseeable", she manages to catalyze audience speculation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Campion's films tend to gravitate around themes of gender politics, such as seduction and female sexual power. This has led some to label Campion's body of work as feminist; however, Rebecca Flint Marx argues that "while not inaccurate, [the feminist label] fails to fully capture the dilemmas of her characters and the depth of her work."<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Despite the positive feminist reputation of her work, Campion has received criticism from some feminists. bell hooks argues that The Piano "seduces and excites audiences with its uncritical portrayal of sexism and misogyny" and even though the film touches upon feminist tropes, it "celebrates and eroticizes male domination."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours and accolades

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Jane Campion receiving the Grand Jury Prize from Anjelica Huston at the 47th Venice International Film Festival

Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.<ref>“New Year Honours 2016” Template:Webarchive (15 Jan 2016) 2 New Zealand Gazette 1 at 3.</ref><ref name=nzl2015>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1986	Two Friends	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Television film
1989	Sweetie	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
1990	An Angel at My Table	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
1993	The Piano	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
1996	The Portrait of a Lady	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
1999	Holy Smoke!	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2003	In the Cut	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2006	Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Documentary
2009	Bright Star	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2021	The Power of the Dog	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1980	Tissues	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
1981	Mishaps of Seduction and Conquest	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
1982	Peel: An Exercise in Discipline	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
1983	Passionless Moments	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
1984	A Girl's Own Story	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
	After Hours	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2006	The Water Diary	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Segment of 8
2007	The Lady Bug	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Segment of To Each His Own Cinema
2012	I'm the One	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes
2016	Family Happiness	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2013	Top of the Lake	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Miniseries; co-directed with Garth Davis
2017	Top of the Lake: China Girl	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Miniseries; co-directed with Ariel Kleiman

Recurring collaborators

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Paul Goddard	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2
Holly Hunter	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2
Harvey Keitel	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2
Nicole Kidman	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2
Genevieve Lemon	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:Ya
Elisabeth Moss	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:Ya	Template:No2
Kerry Walker	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:Ya	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2	Template:No2

See also

• Women's cinema
• New Zealand film makers

Bibliography

• Cheshire, Ellen: Jane Campion. London: Pocket Essentials, 2000.
• Fox, Alistair: Jane Campion: Authorship and Personal Cinema. Bloomington–Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011. Template:ISBN.
• Gillett, Sue: 'Views for Beyond the Mirror: The Films of Jane Campion.' St.Kilda: ATOM, 2004. Template:ISBN
• Hester, Elizabeth J.: Jane Campion: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Dissertations and Theses. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN.
• Jones, Gail: 'The Piano.' Australian Screen Classics, Currency Press, 2007.
• Margolis, Harriet (ed): 'Jane Campion's The Piano.' Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• McHugh, Kathleen: 'Jane Campion.'Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
• Radner, Hilary, Alistair Fox and Irène Bessière (eds): 'Jane Campion: Cinema, Nation, Identity.'Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009.
• Verhoeven, Deb: Jane Campion. London: Routledge, 2009.
• Wexman V.W.: Jane Campion: Interviews. Roundhouse Publishing. 1999.

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Jane Campion Bibliography, Berkeley.edu
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Australian Women and Leadership