Campion calls for more women directors

Jane Campion has called on a greater number of female directors to step forward and compete in the Cannes film festival.

The director, whose own John Keats biopic Bright Star is nominated at this year's event, told the BBC that women's upbringing can make it hard for them to "develop a tough skin" needed in the world of cinema.

Campion said: "What interests women is very interesting to me and without more women writers and directors, the rest of us are never going to learn the whole story.

"But I think women grow up without a lot of harsh criticism, they are treated more sensitively and it's quite hard when you first encounter the world of filmmaking."

Campion last won the Palme D'Or at Cannes 16 years ago for The Piano, for which she also picked up an Oscar for Best Screenplay.