AustLit

Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1975 she completed a degree in anthropology at Wellington's Victoria University. Then, majoring in painting, she completed a BA at the Sydney College of the Arts in 1979.

Campion studied at the Australian Film and Television School during the early 1980s. Her first short film, Peel (1982), won several awards, including the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival. After completing several short films and one feature film during the 1980s, Campion attracted more attention with Angel at My Table (1990), an adaptation of the autobiographies of Janet Frame.

Her greatest critical and commercial success came with The Piano (1993), an intense and visually stunning tale of sexual politics in nineteenth century New Zealand. The film was highly acclaimed and was nominated for many awards in several categories. Campion won the Academy Award for best original screenplay and the film won the Palme D'Or at Cannes.

Since that success Campion has directed several films, including an adaptation of Henry James' Portrait of a Lady (1996) and Holy Smoke (1999), a film adapted from the novel on which she collaborated with her sister, Ann. The latter tells the story of an Australian family who attempts to rescue their daughter from the influence of an Indian guru.

Campion lives in Sydney where she continues to write and develop new film projects.