“The Nightingale” has taken home two awards from Venice Film Festival, where the revenge thriller recently made its world premiere. Set in 1825 Tasmania, Jennifer Kent’s second feature was the sole woman-directed film to screen in competition. The well-received pic follows an Irish convict (Aisling Franciosi) determined to find and exact vengeance on a British army officer (Sam Claflin) who wronged her family. While pursuing her target, she enlists the help of an Aboriginal tracker (Baykali Ganambarr).

“The Nightingale” won the Special Jury Prize and the Marcello Mastroianni award for best young actor which went to Ganambarr, The West Australian reports.

While accepting the honor, “Babadook” director Kent emphasized the need for more films made by women.

“I would also like to say to all those women out there wanting to make films, please go and do it. We need you. The feminine force is the most powerful and healing force on the planet,” Kent said. She added, “I’m confident next year and the year after we’ll see more and more women inhabiting this space.”

Venice recently signed the 5050×2020 Pledge, a document meant to hold fests accountable as they work towards full gender parity. By signing the document, festival signatories promise to gather stats according to the filmmakers’ gender, identify the fest members who select films to screen, and develop a schedule to achieve equality on the festival board.

According to ScreenDaily, Kent is nearly finished a new draft of the screenplay for her third feature, “Alice + Freda Forever,” based on the true story two young women who fall in love in Memphis, Tennessee in the 1890s. She’s also prepping work on “Tiptree,” a series about sci-fi writer Alice Bradley Sheldon, who wrote under the pen name James Tiptree Jr.

The Australian filmmaker’s feature debut, 2014’s “The Babadook,” won her the Australian Directors Guild’s award for Best Direction in a Feature Film, among other honors.