New Zealand film-maker: Jane Campion
Acclaimed New Zealand film director Jane Campion is one of only four female film-makers to have been nominated for an Academy Award as best director.
When nominated in 1993 for The Piano, Jane Campion didn't win the film-maker award, but she did take home the Oscar for best screenplay.
Campion was also the first woman to receive the prestigious Palme d'Or for directing at the Cannes Film Festival - again for The Piano.
'Bright Star' - critical acclaim
In 2010 - 16 years on from her breakthrough triumph - Jane Campion will be back on the red carpet at Cannes presenting her newest film Bright Star.
Written and directed by Campion, Bright Star is a period drama about the romance between English poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. The romance was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25.
For Bright Star, Campion has been nominated for another Palme d’Or which, if she wins, will be her second.
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox plays Brawne’s mother in the film.
'The Piano'
- extraordinary success
The Piano was an extraordinarily successful film.
Alongside breathtaking New Zealand scenery, The Piano was the launching pad for a new generation star - 11-year-old actress Anna Paquin won an
Academy Award for her performance.
The film also featured established Hollywood star,
New Zealander Sam Neill, and Campion herself.
The Piano was filmed 40-minutes out of New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, on the rugged west coast beach of Karekare and in the surrounding rainforest. (This same beach landscape was the inspiration for top New Zealand band Crowded House's Together Alone album.)
International awards
Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, and graduated in anthropology from Victoria University.
The young film-maker's first production was a short called Sweetie which received several international awards, including the LA Film Critics 'New Generation Award' in 1990.
Jane Campion's second film - An Angel at my Table - was based on the autobiographical works of renowned New Zealand author Janet Frame, and won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Fellow New Zealander and actress Kerry Fox, who played Janet Frame, earned international recognition for her performance in An Angel at my Table.
More information:
New Zealand actress: Anna Paquin
Star Kiwi directors
Auckland's west coast
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