Directed by Sally Potter • 1983 • United Kingdom
Starring Julie Christie, Colette Laffont, Hilary Westlake
Made with an all-woman crew, Sally Potter’s bold feature debut is a surrealist science-fiction musical that explores the link between female cinematic representation and capitalist exploitation amid a dreamlike universe of wintry tundras, vaudeville stages, and ballrooms. Celeste (Colette Laffont) is a computer clerk in a bank who becomes fascinated by the relationship between gold and power. Ruby (Julie Christie) is an enigmatic film star in quest of her childhood, her memories, and the truth about her own identity. As their paths cross, they come to sense that there could be a link between the male struggle for economic supremacy and the female ideal of mysterious but impotent beauty. The avant-garde art direction and gorgeous black-and-white cinematography (courtesy of Chantal Akerman collaborator Babette Mangolte) evoke a world pitched somewhere between Chaplin and Magritte.
Directed by Jane Campion • 1983 • Australia
This early short from director Jane Campion concerns a group of teenage girls in the 1960s.
Directed by Agnès Varda • 1988 • France
Starring Jane Birkin, Agnès Varda, Charlotte Gainsbourg
The interests, obsessions, and fantasies of two singular artists converge in this inspired collaboration between Agnès Varda and her longtime friend the actor Jane Birkin. Made over the course of a ye...
Directed by Jane Campion • 1989 • New Zealand
Starring Genevieve Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos
Though she went on to create a string of brilliant films, Jane Campion will always be remembered for her stunning debut feature SWEETIE, which focuses on the hazardous relationship between the button...
