Justin Kurzel
Kurzel at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Born
Gawler, South Australia, Australia
OccupationFilm director
Years active2001–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2002)​
Children2

Justin Dallas Kurzel[1] (/kɜːrˈzɛl/;[2] born c. 1974) is an Australian film director.

Early life

Kurzel was born circa 1974 in Gawler, South Australia to a family with immigrant roots, his father hailing from Poland and his mother from Malta.[3] His younger brother, Jed Kurzel, is a blues rock musician who has scored most of Justin's films.[4]

Career

In 1999 Kurzel was awarded a Mike Walsh Fellowship. His Victorian College of the Arts graduating short film Blue Tongue (2004) screened in over 13 international films festivals and won Best Short at the Melbourne International Film Festival.[5][6]

Kurzel's feature film debut was Snowtown (2011), for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Direction. Though controversial for its violence, the film was generally praised and holds an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critic consensus: "It's a bleak and brutal endurance test, but for viewers with the strength and patience to make it to the end, Snowtown will prove an uncommonly powerful viewing experience."[7]

His 2015 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[8]

In 2016, Kurzel directed Assassin's Creed (2016), based on the video game franchise of the same name.[9]

Kurzel directed True History of the Kelly Gang in 2018, adapted from Peter Carey's 2001 Man Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, written from the viewpoint of legendary Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly.[10] The film premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Australian cinemas in 2020.[11]

Kurzel will direct multiple episodes of Apple TV's television adaptation of the 2003 novel Shantaram.[12]

It was announced in late 2022 that Kurzel will direct a limited series adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.[13]

Personal life

Kurzel is married to actress Essie Davis.[14] They have twin daughters.[15][16]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
2004 Blue Tongue Short film
2011 Snowtown AACTA Award for Best Direction
Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Direction
Nominated—Inside Film Award for Best Director
2013 The Turning Episode: "Boner McPharlin's Moll"
Nominated—AACTA Award for Best Direction
2015 Macbeth Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Director of a British Independent Film
Nominated—Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or
2016 Assassin's Creed
2019 True History of the Kelly Gang
2021 Nitram AACTA Award for Best Film
AACTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated—Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or
TBA The Order † Post-production

Television

Year Title Notes
TBA The Narrow Road to the Deep North Director; Filming

Music videos

Year Title
2006 You Am I: Friends Like You

References

  1. ↑ "Justin Dallas Kurzel". Directors Guild of America. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. ↑ "Justin Kurzel for LET THE EVIL GO WEST by Carlos Rios". The Black List. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Conrad, Peter (October 2015). "An eye for tyrants". The Monthly. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Ross, Annabel (29 November 2014). "Two of us: Justin and Jed Kurzel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "Blue Tongue". Stockholm Film Festival. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "Justin Kurzel". HLA Management. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "The Snowtown Murders". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "The 2015 Official Selection". Cannes Film Festival. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim (29 April 2014). "Michael Fassbender's MacBeth Director to Helm Assassin's Creed Movie". IGN. Ziff Davis, LLC. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  10. ↑ White, James (6 July 2015). "Justin Kurzel Developing True History Of The Kelly Gang". Empire. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Groves, Don (9 August 2019). "Justin Kurzel to direct TV drama series for Apple". Inside Film. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  12. ↑ Quinn, Karl (15 August 2019). "Apple TV+ series Shantaram is go, with Kurzel but without Depp". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Goldbart, Max (2 November 2022). "'Euphoria' Star Jacob Elordi To Lead 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North' Adaptation, Which Moves From Fremantle To Sony Pictures Television". Deadline. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Quinn, Karl (1 May 2013). "Snowtown's Kurzel to direct Fassbender, Portman in big-screen Macbeth". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  15. ↑ Quinn, Karl (12 March 2012). "Lunch with Essie Davis". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. ↑ Hallett, Bryce (11 December 2009). "True crime as a spectator sport". The Sydney Morning Herald.
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