stephanie spheeris

Topping off a stellar year for the work of women filmmakers at the 68th iteration of the Melbourne International Film Festival, that Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale won The Age Critics Award for the year – the festival’s most esteemed accolade – comes as little surprise. Writing in The Age newspaper (the award issuer), Australian film critic Sandra Hall wrote of Kent’s fearless sophomore feature “We found Jennifer Kent’s depiction of early 19th century Tasmania utterly convincing…the film’s portrayal and condemnation of violence against women is just as pertinent today as it was then.”