On her best behavior, Jane Campion wins her second Oscar and becomes third woman to win Best Director

Jane Campion became the third woman in history to win Best Director at the 94th Academy Awards, picking up her second career Oscar. In a gaffe-free acceptance in which she razzed Kevin Costner’s “dramatic” presentation, Campion took the statue for The Power Of The Dog.

Of course, this was a mostly carefree acceptance that likely held none of the import and history of her win at the Critics Choice Awards, which was led by her public feud with Sam Elliott about what are and what aren’t westerns. Costner may join Elliott in the Yellowstone-verse, but he didn’t seem to take her saying “Thanks, Kevin, that was very dramatic” too personally.

“Big love to my fellow nominees. I love you all, you’re all so extraordinary talented,” Campion said at the top of her speech.

“I love directing because it’s a deep dive into story, yet the task of manifesting can be overwhelming,” she said. “The sweet thing is I’m not alone. On The Power Of The Dog, I worked with actors I’m moved to call my friends. They met the challenge of this story with the depths of their gifts: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Jessie Plemons, and my whole crew.”

“But it would be impossible without the man I never met, Thomas Savage. He wrote about cruelty, wanting the opposite, kindness,” Campion continued before adding, “Thank you, Academy, it’s a lifetime honor.”

Campion also didn’t make awkwardly dismissive jokes about Venus and Serena Williams this time. Instead, she made a very nice speech and appeared genuinely touched by the honor. A few weeks ago, her comments about competing with the boys made for a brief controversy. She later apologized saying: “I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved. I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes.”