FILM CREDIT
Campion now Dame Jane
Acclaimed film director and Oscar winner Jane Campion has added another honour to her list - and this time it comes with a title.
Campion was formally invested as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit during a ceremony at Government House in her hometown of Wellington yesterday.
The newly-minted dame, whose 1993 feature The Piano won three Academy Awards, was given the title in the New Year honours but she said it didn’t hit home until the ceremony.
‘‘I don’t think anyone thinks it’s real until you’ve got the badge.’’
The Kiwi director, who now lives in Australia, said the honour felt like a ‘‘summing up’’ of her career achievements to date and she was pleased to be back in New Zealand to accept the gong.
‘‘For me, it’s really special because I am a New Zealander, I’ve never changed my nationality, I love New Zealand and I love New Zealanders and it feels really good to be recognised by the New Zealand people.’’
Campion is one of only four women to have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and was the first - and so far the only female film-maker - to receive the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
She earned that honour for directing The Piano, for which she also won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Campion hoped that her career to date and this latest honour would serve as an inspiration to other female film directors eager to break into the entertainment industry.
‘‘I feel like I have to grow up a bit now.
‘‘Time to give back some service. That’s really what it brings to mind.’’
She said her experiences within the industry had not always been pleasant but she had seen positive changes over time.
‘‘When I first started there was a sense of being told to ‘please shut up’ as a woman.
‘‘I feel like there is a new appetite to hear the female experience and giving women more of an opportunity to do extraordinary work.’’
Currently, Campion is working on the second season of Emmynominated TV series Top of the Lake, a show she created with Australian screenwriter Gerard Lee.
Among 18 others to be honoured at the investiture ceremony yesterday were Slingshot co-founder Annette Presley and former Royal New Zealand Air Force chief Mike Yardley.