Cinema Swoon for Jane Campion

Melissa Silverstein of Women & Hollywood and Gloria Steinem co-hosted a reception on Tuesday in honor of the incredible feminist filmmaker Jane Campion. I was so geeked up to get an invitation, especially when I realized how ridiculously talented so many of the guests were (Sarah Jones, Alison Maclean, Nancy Savoca (who told me there’s a new If These Walls Could Talk in the works!), Meg Wolitzer, Pamela Tanner Boll, and Amy Richards, Erica Jong, J. Courtney Sullivan, among others).
In any case, Jane spoke off the cuff about her relationship to her work, how much she detests the term “woman filmmaker,” and her new film, Bright Star, about the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25. (Jane said that her muse for everything Fanny did and said was her very own daughter.)
It was notable that when she first started out in film making, the Australian government had just made a commitment to funding half films made by and about women. It totally changed the landscape Jane emerged in, where everyone was trying to hire women to work on their films. Imagine the same thing in the U.S., where it’s still a film making sausage fest.
She also spoke about the importance of seeing women characters that reflect our own lives, not because women are somehow special or different, but because people simply need to recognize themselves in art (she compared it to kids wanting to see films with kids in them).
Finally, she commented that–in her experience–American women come off as far more submissive than women from other cultures. That fascinated me. She admitted it was a vast generalization, but given that she had that impression, I thought it important that she shared it (in Gloria Steinem’s living room of all places!).
Don’t miss her new film, Bright Star, or any of her other incredible work. She has the uncanny ability to truly hold on to her own vision in a world that I imagine has threatened to crush is often. Her unapologetic interest in quirky characters, unpretty sexuality, and complex emotional lives is such an inspiration.

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