Perhaps inevitably, considering her figurehead status, Campion's thoughts often turn to what women can and can't do in the film industry. It's a matter of looking after people – I think women do that really well.' But I will also be trying not to let things get personal, and keep a sense of humour. They are all investing two weeks of their time to come and watch the films and think about them.

'My job is to make sure everyone's voice gets heard.

But as the only female winner, to date, of that top prize, it's the kind of honour that is her due.Īs the festival gears up for its 67th edition, Campion appears stoical about what she calls an 'experiment in socialism', the shepherding of an eight-strong group – including fellow directors Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Winding Refn – around the Cannes competition films. She's actually the 10th woman to lead the festival's prize-giving committee – even if men have done it on 57 other occasions – and shares the honour with some heady company: Jeanne Moreau, Françoise Sagan, Liv Ullmann, Sophia Loren. So it comes as a surprise that her latest gig, as president of the Cannes film festival jury, isn't another act of pioneering gender breakthrough.

Jane Campion was the first woman to win a Palme d'Or and only the second ever to be nominated for the best director Oscar.

Jane campion the piano