Who is Jennifer Kent?
Jennifer Kent is an Australian film director and screenwriter, best known for the acclaimed 2014 horror film The Babadook and the 2018 historical drama The Nightingale, set in colonial Tasmania.
Kent trained as an actor at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney and worked in Australian television before moving behind the camera. She studied filmmaking by working as an assistant to Danish director Lars von Trier on Dogville.
Her short film Monster, made in 2005, contained the seed of The Babadook, which premiered at Sundance and became an international success.
The Nightingale
The Nightingale, set in 1825, follows an Irish convict woman seeking revenge in Van Diemen's Land, guided by an Aboriginal tracker. Its graphic violence divided audiences, but it won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Kent's work deals with trauma, grief and the experiences of women, and she has spoken about the importance of telling difficult stories honestly. Aisling Franciosi played the lead role of Clare, and Baykali Ganambarr won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at Venice for his role as the tracker Billy.
She is admired for her strong female characters and for making horror and historical drama that explore serious themes. Kent was the only woman director with a film in Venice's main competition in 2018, a point that drew attention to gender balance in film festivals.
Did You Know?
The Nightingale used the palawa kani language and was made in consultation with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders.