Sweetie
Campion’s wild side was out in full force in her 1989 breakthrough, about the love-hate relationship between two odd sisters, which over time has lost none of its radical edge.
Greeted with a chorus of impassioned cheers and jeers when it premiered at Cannes in 1989, this bold, bawdy and often harrowing tale of two sisters announced Campion’s arrival as an uncompromising new cinematic voice. Exploring the fractious relationship between the volatile Sweetie (Genevieve Lemon in a star making turn) and the introverted Kay (Karen Colston), Campion refuses easy psychology and diagnoses. She challenges audiences to reckon with Sweetie’s increasingly erratic behaviour without the benefit of simple answers, just as the characters in her orbit do. As Lemon herself cheerfully admitted, “Campion wanted [audiences] to be bugged by Sweetie.” Screening in 35mm. Films showing at this event:
A Girl's Own Story
This 1960s coming-of-age tale packed with iconic imagery and memorable musical moments won the 1984 Rouben Mamoulian Award at SFF and Best Achievement in Direction at AFI. It screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes alongside Peel and Passionless Moments (Campion’s other film school works).
Tickets
Sun 11 Jun
2pm
Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Program Strand
- Jane Campion Retrospective
- Year
- 1989
- Classification
- M
- Country
- Australia
- Language
- In English
- Director
- Jane Campion
- Producer
- John Maynard
- Cast
- Genevieve Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos
- Screenwriter
- Jane Campion, Gerard Lee
- Cinematographer
- Sally Bongers
- Editor
- Veronika Jenet
- Genre
- Women Directors, Australian Films, Comedies, Retrospective
- Company Credits
- Rights Holder: Felix Media. Print Source: National Film and Sound Archive
