Jane Campion, 72, is presiding over the jury at this year’s Taormina Film Festival. The usually press-shy Campion has been laying low these last few years, but there seems to be some movement when it comes to her next project.
Campion is now telling Variety that she’s working on a new film, and it’s going to be her first musical. This would be a major departure for her, and I’m intrigued. She refused to provide further details on the project, which remains under wraps.
Campion hadn’t directed a film in over 12 years before 2021’s acclaimed, Oscar-winning “The Power of the Dog.” She thought she had finished making films after completing it and would instead focus on a personal project: a pop-up school for aspiring filmmakers in her native New Zealand.
Things changed since then.
Campion recently admitted that the success of “The Power of the Dog” gave her a sort of carte blanche — and she intends to take advantage of it. Word is that she’s teaming up again with Netflix on this next project.
Campion is pure class. She’s also the director of “The Piano,” one of the truly singular films of the 1990s, which led to her becoming the first female filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or. It remains the best film she’s ever made.
Campion has been directing films since the ’80s. Her most acclaimed works also include “An Angel at My Table,” “Sweetie,” and “The Portrait of a Lady.”