The acclaimed director will chair the Official Competition jury for the 72nd Sydney Film Festival.
The Sydney Film Festival announced today that this year’s Official Competition jury will be chaired by Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel, the none-more-grim auteur behind such tough-watch gems as Snowtown, Macbeth, and The True History of the Kelly Gang.
Kurzel leads an accomplished team of cinema connoisseurs tasked with awarding the festival’s $60,000 cash prize.
Joining him is Kamilaroi writer and actor Thomas Weatherall, familiar to most as Malakai Mitchell in Netflix’s Heartbreak High reboot. Also on board is acclaimed New Zealand actor (and fellow Heartbreak High alumnus) Rachel House, who you’ve seen in Taika Waititi‘s Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok. Rounding out the jury are Marrakech Film Festival Director Melita Toscan du Plantier; and Hong Kong-based producer and distributor Winnie Tsang.
Kurzel’s latest feature, the true crime drama The Order starring Jude Law, Tye Sheridan, and Nicholas Hoult, is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. His next work, the five-part literary adaptation The Narrow Road to the Deep North starring Jacob Elordi, Odessa Young, and fellow jury member Thomas Weatherall, debuts on April 18.
His first documentary feature is Ellis Park, a portrait of musician and Nick Cave sparring partner Warren Ellis. It was one of the first 18 titles announced for this year’s Sydney Film Festival. It’ll be joined by The Act of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer’s narrative debut, The End, starring Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon; Melbourne-set buddy comedy Fwends; Adelaide Film Festival fave Lesbian Space Princess, and many more.
The 2025 Sydney Film Festival runs from June 4 – 15. For full details, announced films, and tickets, hit up the official site.
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