SXSW, in going international for the first time, is bringing an Australian-made film back home

South by Southwest is an internationally recognised arts festival that’s been going on for decades. It’s launching a sister convention in Sydney this year, and Australian film The Royal Hotel is premiering with it.

SXSW Sydney Screen Festival's Ghita Loebenstein, left, with filmmaker Kitty Green. Picture: Nikki Short

One of the biggest media conventions in the US is coming to Australia for the first time – and features an Aussie outback thriller that turns the genre on its head with a star turn by Hugo Weaving.

South By Southwest – known as SXSW, or South By – is a creative arts festival that has been running in Austin, Texas, for 36 years. Its first international event is being held in Sydney this week from October 15 to 22 and features guest speakers such as Naomi Watts, Charlie Brooker, Nicole Kidman and Chance the Rapper.

The event is designed to bring together leaders in the tech, music, screen, games and cultural industries to collaborate and talk in one space, with music performances and film premieres taking place between speeches from professionals in their fields.

While it’s known as an industry event, its Screen Festival is giving the public the chance to see popular movies from around the globe before their wide release, including a six-chapter extended cut of Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia, ­rebranded as Faraway Downs.

The festival’s opening film, The Royal Hotel, is directed by Australian filmmaker Kitty Green, director of 2019 film The Assistant.

Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick star in the Australian psychological thriller The Royal Hotel. Picture: Supplied

The film is a psychological thriller starring Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving, about two American backpackers growing increasingly threatened and trapped by the residents of an Australian outback town.

The movie was shot in South Australia and based on real events in Coolgardie, Western Australia, inspired by the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie.

“The film was cut in Sydney, and all of our sound was done in Sydney,” Green said. “So we’re really excited to be screening here. It feels like we’re coming home, which is fabulous. We screened around the world, but it’s a film that is made for Australians … and South By is a great spot for it.”

Green had previously screened her 2013 documentary Ukraine is not a Brothel at SXSW in Austin, and is excited to bring her new film back to Australia after touring it in international festivals.

“Kitty is such a talent,” said SXSW Sydney’s Head of Screen Ghita Loebenstein. “For me to be able to support a female filmmaker who has made the leap from local filmmaking to now global filmmaking, who is so adept at her craft … she’s doing all the things that we love. It’s irreverent. It’s energetic. It kicks to the kerb all the genre tropes that we’ve all seen on screen 100,000 times before.”

Other films having their Australian premieres in SXSW Sydney include Saltburn, Dumb Money, Bottoms, a documentary on the Sydney rap group ONEFOUR, and a 4K restoration of the Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense.

The festival also has programs dedicated to First Nations creative works, and a Midnighters program for movies with a genre focus.