Courses and Workshops

The Vision of Jane Campion

Karen Davis
Thursday, Apr. 4, 2024, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM (PT)
Repeats every Thursday until Thursday, Apr. 25, 2024
Price: $120.00
93 slots available
Join/Renew

As the second female director in nearly one hundred years(!) to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Director (the first was Lina Wertmüller nearly twenty years earlier), and the first to receive the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes (1993), the cinema of Jane Campion is sine qua non for cinéphiles. Her films are impressionistic dreamscapes populated by strong-willed, iconoclastic women, men and children whose internal struggles are often reflected and refracted through the lens of the surrounding environment. In films that are simple and spare, and others that are eloquent, layered and exquisitely orchestrated, Campion demonstrates her enormous talent for crafting hauntingly unforgettable tales of strangers in strangely familiar lands.

This series will feature and discuss films directed by Jane Campion, including:

  • The Power of the Dog (2021) 125 mins
  • The Piano (1993) 121 mins
  • An Angel at My Table (1990) 158 mins
  • Sweetie (1989) 97 mins
  • Passionless Moments (1985) 13 mins

Faculty Bio

Karen Davis is Senior Film Programmer Emerita for the Mill Valley Film Festival and Professor Emerita at CSUMB. She has taught courses in world cinema at UC Santa Cruz, Vassar College and California State University at Monterey Bay.

This is a Livestreamed-Only Course

  • Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time
  • Classes will not be video recorded
  • Please note: Films should be viewed in advance. Class sessions will consist of lecture, discussion and short film clips to deepen understanding of the course material
  • You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.

Schedule Highlights

  • Course starts on Thursday, April 4, and ends on Thursday, April 25
  • Classes meet for 4 weeks, 1.5 hours per session (9:30–11 AM)
  • All course materials will remain available to view and enjoy through May 31

Member Praise for Karen Davis

Karen is a captivating instructor! Can't wait for her next class.

Excellent teacher, very interesting films, and loved learning about talented people in film that I either knew nothing about and/or are just amazingly gifted people.

Faculty Q&A