Dame Jane appears at the Auckland Writers Festival on Sunday, 19 May.
While it is an honour to direct films, the job itself is “super stressful”, Dame Jane says.
“I find that I get really bad sleep and I got a sleeping pill addiction because I wasn’t sleeping enough and couldn’t trust that I could sleep without them. It’s been a big job getting off those pills and now I don’t take any.
“There are absolute glories to it [making films] and I love it, but it is quite strange to be so mono-focused. I love that sense of bringing a wider focus to the world.”
When she is not working, Dame Jane likes to go bush.
