This program features three of Jane Campion’s earliest short films, made between 1982 and 1984 while she was enrolled at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Her command of the camera and directorial sensibilities shine even in these earliest films, indicating the ferocity of her work to come.
An Exercise in Discipline: Peel. 1983. Australia. Written and directed by Jane Campion. With Tim Pye, Katie Pye, Ben Marin. 9 min.
On a family road trip, a defiant son throws bits of an orange peel along the route until his beleaguered parents finally pull over. Family tension unspools in the dry Australian sun in this depiction of the ties that bind. For this film, Campion became the first woman to win the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Palme d’Or.
Passionless Moments. 1985. Australia. Written and directed by Jane Campion, Gerard Lee. 13 min.
A series of vignettes make up this wry take on the mundane scenes of everyday life. Campion and Lee imbue the film with radical humor and artfulness. You’ll never hear the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” the same way again.
A Girl’s Own Story. 1983. Australia. Written and directed by Jane Campion. With Gabrielle Shornegg, Geraldine Haywood, Marina Knight. 16mm. 26 min.
In the era of Beatlemania, a group of teenage girls at a Catholic high school experience an explosion of sexuality. Usurping the heterosexual aura of the mid-20th century, Campion injects queerness into young girls’ obsession with boy bands.
49 min.