Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' will open two film festivals in the space of a week after being announced as the opening film of this year's Adelaide Film Festival (AFF).
Inspired by the 2017 observational documentary 'Hotel Coolgardie' by filmmaker Pete Gleeson, Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' stars Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick as Hanna and Liv, two best friends backpacking around Australia.
Critics have hailed Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' as an "even deeper" and "pulpier and more explosive" look at toxic masculinity than her 2019 #MeToo thriller 'The Assistant', with many drawing comparisons between the film and Ted Kotcheff's 1971 classic 'Wake in Fright'.
After announcing Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' as its opener last month, Adelaide Film Festival will close out with another South Australian feature, Scott Hicks's documentary 'My Name’s Ben Folds – I Play Piano'.
Directors Ivan Sen, Kitty Green, and Ricard Cussó will provide insights into their craft as part of this year's Brisbane International Film Festival, joining the line-up of speakers for the industry days.
When Kitty Green first watched Peter Gleeson's 2017 documentary 'Hotel Coolgardie', she was immediately intrigued by the subject matter, leading her to write her second narrative feature, 'The Royal Hotel'.
Explorations of evil and entrapment took top honours at Thursday's AWGIE Awards, with Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes' 'Late Night with the Devil' and Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' winning the original and adapted feature prizes, respectively.