Jennifer Kent was born in Brisbane, Australia. She graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and has worked extensively in theatre, film and TV as an actor. In 2002, Jennifer undertook a directing apprenticeship on Dogville, directed by Lars von Trier. Jennifer’s award-winning short film Monsterscreened at over 50 international festivals including Telluride Film Festival and Aspen Shortsfest where it won the Audience Award and The Ellen Award for distinctive achievement. 

In 2010, Jennifer completed the script program at the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam, where she developed her feature film The Babadook. The Babadook screened at Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 to critical and audience acclaim, and has won over 50 international and domestic awards, including the Australian Director’s Guild award for Best Director, the Australian Academy Award (AACTA) for Best Direction, Best Screenplay and Best Film, and the New York Critics Circle Awards for Best First Feature. 

Her second feature The Nightingale premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the prestigious Special Jury Prize as well as the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Newcomer (Baykali Ganambarr.) The Nightingale will be released in cinemas in 2019. 

Her third feature as writer/director, Alice and Freda Forever is slated for production in the US in 2019. She is also writing and will direct Tiptree, a limited series for TV based on the extraordinary life and work of female science fiction writer Alice B Sheldon.