Sydney College of the Arts

Jane Campion is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and director from New Zealand. Campion is the second of four women ever nominated for the Academy Award... for Best Director. She also is the first female filmmaker in history to receive the Palme d'Or for direction. Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the daughter of Edith, an actress, and Richard Campion, a theater and opera director. She graduated with a degree in anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975. In 1976 she attended Chelsea Art School in London and travelled in Europe. She graduated with a painting major at the Sydney College of the Arts in Australia in 1979. She made her first short film, Tissues in 1981. In 1982 she began studying at the Australian Film and Television School where she made further short films. Campion started making films in the early 1980s at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Her first short film, Peel won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, and other awards followed for the shorts Passionless Moments , Girls Own Story and After Hours .
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