Biography for
Jane Campion More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early 1980s, attending the Australian School of Film and Television. Her first short film, Peel (1982) won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986. Her other short films include Passionless Moments (1983), A Girl's Own Story (1984), 0086858 and the telefeature _2 Friends (1986) (TV)_, all of which won Australian and international awards. She co-wrote and directed her first feature film, Sweetie (1989), which won the Georges Sadoul prize in 1989 for Best Foreign Film, as well as the LA Film Critics' New Generation Award in 1990, the American Independant Spirit Award for Best Foreign Feature, and the Australian Critics' Award for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress. She followed this with An Angel At My Table (1990), a dramatization based on the autobiographies of Janet Frame which won some seven prizes, including the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1990. It was also awarded prizes at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals, again winning the American Independent Spirit Award, and was voted the most popular film at the 1990 Sydney Film Festival. The Piano (1993) won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making her the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. She also captured an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1993 Oscars, while also being nominated for Best Director.

Spouse

Trivia

Sister of Anna Campion

Daughter of Edith Campion

Daughter, Alice, born [1994]

Son, Jasper, born who died 12 days later. [1993]

Became the second female to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Director category for her film The Piano (1993). The first being Lina Wertmüller for her film Pasqualino Settebellezze (1975) (aka Seven Beauties).

Was among the guests at Nicole Kidman's wedding to Keith Urban

Was part of the jury of the 2007 Venice Film Festival.

Personal Quotes

"I think that the romantic impulse is in all of us and that sometimes we live it for a short time, but it's not part of a sensible way of living. It's a heroic path and it generally ends dangerously. I treasure it in the sense that I believe it's a path of great courage. It can also be the path of the foolhardy and the compulsive."

"But short films are not inferior, just different. I think the short gives a freedom to film-makers. What's appealing is that you don't have as much responsibility for storytelling and plot. They can be more like a portrait, or a poem. The great thing is that almost everyone ends up doing something creative with them, even those directors who then go on to make quite boring features."

Where Are They Now

(April 2005) In Istanbul for 24th International Istanbul Film Festival as the president of Golden Tulip Jury and for the screening of The Piano (1993) in the honor of Jane Campion and Harvey Keitel collaboration.

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