Jane Campion

Acclaimed Director Jane Campion won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 with her very first short film "Peel" (1982), making her the first woman to ever win the festival's highest honor. Though she is often regarded as an Australian director because she began her filmmaking career there, Jane is actually a New Zealander. Born in Wellington, she earned a degree in anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975 before moving to Australia where she earned another degree in painting from Sydney College of the Arts in Australia in 1979. She then turned to filmmaking and attended the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where she made her first films. Jane quickly followed "Peel" with three more award-winning shorts: "Passionless Moments" (1983), which she wrote with her friend and colleague Gerard Lee; "After Hours" (1984); and "A Girls Own Story" (1984). She teamed with Lee again to write her first feature, "Sweetie" (1989), which she also directed. The film won the Australian Critics' Awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress. Her next feature, "Angel at My Table" (1990) was based on the autobiography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. She followed with "The Piano" (1993), her most critically and commercially successful to date. Among the film's many Academy Award nominations were Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, the latter of which she won. The film also brought her her second Palme d'Or at Cannes, her first for a feature. She continues to make visually stunning films including "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996) starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich, "Holy Smoke" (1999) starring Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel, "In the Cut" (2003) starring Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo, and "Bright Star" (2009) starring Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw. (09/09)

After Hours
A film by Jane Campion, 1984, 26 min., Color
A confronting and realistic short drama by Academy Award-winning director, Jane Campion, about sexual harassment in the office. A young office worker...

The Films of Jane Campion
Films by Jane Campion, 49 min., Color/BW
The internationally acclaimed director of THE PIANO, AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE and SWEETIE first displayed her visual flair and dark humor in these award-w...

A Girl's Own Story
A film by Jane Campion, 1986, 27 min., BW
Beatlemania, the sixties and growing up. Some stories about girlhood: where family is strange, adulthood lonely, and innocence perverse....

Passionless Moments
A film by Jane Campion, 13 min., BW
A series of wry vignettes: SEAN AND ARNOLD NOT SPEAKING; SCOTTIES, PART OF THE GRAND DESIGN OF THE UNIVERSE; ANGELA EATS MEATS, IRONING ON SUNDAY, and...

Peel
A film by Jane Campion, 9 min., Color
On a hot Australian summer's day, a recalcitrant, freckled, red-headed family of three go on a Sunday drive in the country. Their outing results in an...