Jane Campion will receive the Pardo d’Onore Manor Award for lifetime achievement on Friday evening at the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. The New Zealand director also took time to speak to members of the press about a wide range of topics, including the success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbiethe history of male dominance in Hollywood and her “very problematic” relationship with her own films.

The New Zealand filmmaker described Gerwig as Barbie Story … fantastic. Because for once we have a film that is not about Marvel heroes, but about a humorous and very creative and funny interpretation of the Barbie mental history.”

Campion added: “She’s the first woman to really make a historic bundle out of it, she’s made billions. It’s fantastic. It just means that women are finally being trusted with money.”

When asked why some of her films, such as On average, The portrait of a lady And Holy cowwere not celebrated as much when they came out as they are today, Campion said: “I don’t know exactly why, but I can imagine. The industry was very male-dominated and still is. But thank God the Berlin Wall of gender dominance has now fallen and I think things have really developed much better.”

She added: “We’ve seen so many amazing women recently winning a lot of amazing awards like Chloe Zhao and Justine Triet and many, many more. So I’m very hopeful.”

To Portrait of a ladyCampion said: “People didn’t see Nicole Kidman back then as the actress she really is, and we know from Australia that she can be, because they were used to seeing her as Tom Cruise’s girlfriend or wife and felt that it was a kind of stand-in role and that she shouldn’t be playing such a classic heroine, especially an American one. But from my point of view she was brilliant.”

Campion was also asked about her relationship with her filmography, describing it as “very problematic.” She pointed out that “the period of intensity when you’re trying to get it to unfold… is so intense,” adding, “And it’s quite critical how I look at (it). … I’m just scared to look at it and think, ‘Oh my God, I missed that,’ and I can’t deal with it.”

The filmmaker summed up: “Yeah, I can be pretty hard on myself. I feel like a kind of mother animal and say, ‘Okay, you can fly. Get out of here! Don’t let me see you again.’ But the time I spend raising her to be the best version of herself is full of love and intensity. Maybe it’s like when you have an intense relationship with someone and it’s over and you don’t really want to see them again.”