Jane Campion Retrospective
In association with the Sydney Film Festival and ACMI, the NFSA is proud to present Jane Campion – Her Way, a retrospective of films by pioneering director Jane Campion.
This retrospective will encompass screenings of all nine of Campion's feature films, as well as a selection of her short films, and the Australian premiere of a new documentary about her life and career.
About Jane Campion
A cursory glance at most biographies of Jane Campion will reveal a focus on the same landmark awards – she was the first woman to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes for The Piano (1993), and the only two-time female Oscar nominee (including one win) for Best Director. Certainly these prizes are monumental, but offer only a glimpse of the full depth of the idiosyncrasy, originality and stylistic and tonal diversity that characterises her extensive body of work.
From the abrasive comedy of Sweetie (1989) and Holy Smoke (1999), to the lyrical melodrama of An Angel at My Table (1990) and Bright Star (2009), to the genre-defying In the Cut (2003) and The Power of the Dog (2021), Campion’s chief trademark as an auteur is her range – despite her unabashed feminism and the recurrence of strong-willed female characters, she has proved to be an equally keen observer of masculinity in all its guises.
Born in New Zealand to parents enmeshed in the country’s tightly-knit theatre community, Campion grew up with an affinity for actors that would anticipate the surprising casting coups of her later work (Meg Ryan’s darkly carnal role in In the Cut, Benedict Cumberbatch as an aggressively macho ranch-owner in The Power of the Dog). She entered the Australian film industry while studying at AFTRS, where she made a series of exceptional short films including Peel, which won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes in 1986.
From there, Campion began an extraordinary run culminating in the phenomenon of The Piano and used her platform to make films that confounded critics – at least many male ones, who Campion once cheekily described as a 'mountain of corduroy you have to get through'.
Always a few steps ahead of the zeitgeist, with a profoundly interconnected body of work, it’s a thrill to offer audiences the chance to experience this diverse range of films that nonetheless tell one extraordinary girl’s own story.
Introduction and film notes by Melba Proestos
Program
Jane Campion: The Cinema Woman – 20 July, 6pm
Two Friends (16mm) + Peel –21 July, 6pm
Sweetie (35mm) + A Girl’s Own Story – 22 July, 2pm
An Angel at My Table – 22 July, 6pm
The Piano – 23 July, 2pm
The Portrait of a Lady – 27 July, 6pm
Holy Smoke (35mm) + Passionless Moments – 28 July, 6pm
In the Cut (35mm) + After Hours – 29 July, 2pm
Bright Star + The Water Diary – 29 July, 6pm
The Power of the Dog (35mm) – 30 July, 2pm
Tickets
Individual tickets are priced at $12 Adult / $10 Concession. Click on links above to buy tickets.
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Please note: the screening of Two Friends is free and not included in the pass.
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