Kiwi Jane Campion was named Best Director at the Academy Awards on Sunday (local time). The 67-year-old filmmaker was honoured with the accolade for her movie 'The Power of the Dog', beating out competition from Paul Thomas Anderson ('Licorice Pizza') Sir Kenneth Branagh ('Belfast'), Steven Spielberg ('West Side Story') and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi ('Drive My Car'), but she insisted anyone on the shortlist could have won. Accepting the accolade on stage at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, she said: "I just want to say big love to my fellow nominees, I love you all, you're all extraordinary and it could have been any of you. "I love directing because it's a deep dive into story yet the task of manifesting a world can be overwhelming yet the sweet thing is I'm not alone. On 'The Power of The Dog', I worked with actors I'm moved to call my friends. They met the challenge of the story with the depth of their gifts. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kody Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons, my whole crew who are true hearts. "I think my brilliant producers... Netflix your whole awesome team embraced this film from the very beginning, thank you so much.
Jane also praised the late Thomas Savage, who wrote the book the movie is based on. She concluded her speech: "It would be impossible without a man I never met, Thomas Savage, who wrote about cruelty, wanting the opposite to kindness. "Thank you Academy, this is a lifetime honour."
Bang Showbiz
