With the phenomenal success of The Piano (1993), Jane Campion became revered by many as the leading female film director of the 90s. Along with her earlier films, including Sweetie (1989 ) and An Angel at My Table (1990), The Piano inspired intense responses from audiences (often split along gender lines). As a film-maker, Campion suggests new possibilities for a cinema of fervent emotionalism and the representation of feminine fantasy and desire on screen.

In this first full-length study of Jane Campion, Dana Polan examines the phenomenon of The Piano and how it developed from the early shorts and first features that evoke an often surreal and critically-distanced style of looking at everyday issues. Considering all of Campion's work up toHoly Smoke (1999), which returned again to the battleground of gender politics, Polan concludes his survey of the Director's work by offering some hypotheses about her upcoming erotic thriller In the Cut (2001) while asking what variety of approaches to the study of directors might be fruitful at the present time.

This is one of the first of a new BFI series, World Directors, which will explore the diversity and complexity of international cinema through studies of important and challenging filmmakers from across the globe.