Jane Campion expresses frustration at Golden Globes for shutting out female directors

Jane Campion is the only woman to have won the Palme D'Or at Cannes. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Kiwi film-maker Jane Campion has shared a statement encouraging the Oscars to consider female directors following the Golden Globes' all-male nominees.

In a statement to IndieWire, Campion threw her support behind Leave No Trace director Debra Granik, urging the Oscars to consider her in the Best Director race.

Leave No Trace, released this year, stars Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie. It received unanimous critical acclaim upon its release, earning a rare 100 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 199 reviews.

Granik's previous films include Winter's Bone, which led a young Jennifer Lawrence to her first Oscar nomination.

Campion, who received a Best Director nomination for The Piano at the 1994 Oscars, says Granik "has become one of the most important voices in American cinema".

"The Golden Globes have just nominated five men for Best Director. And the AFI have issued their list of 10 Best Films of 2018 without a single film directed by a woman," says Campion.

"I haven't seen all these films, but I do want to reflect on one film that I've seen this year which I believe deserves continued attention — Debra Granik's Leave No Trace starring Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie.

"Leave No Trace is a story between a father and a daughter ... (Granik) focuses on characters we hardly ever see in films. She's drawn to outsiders in marginalised communities and has honed a new kind of 'social realism' for today.

"(Leave No Trace) is a film filled with compassion and I would say with honesty — and it has had a powerful impact on audiences. Not because it is loud. It is delicate and intimate. But because the truth that Granik speaks quietly can be heard even in a noisy world.

"I am delighted that Debra has been nominated for Best Director at the Spirit Awards and won Best Director from the LA Film Critics. This is far-sighted recognition. I believe she should be part of the Best Director Oscar conversation."

Read the full statement on IndieWire here.