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. 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." The film marked Kurzel's first collaboration with writer
Shaun Grant. His
2015 film adaptation of
William Shakespeare's
Macbeth was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, Kurzel directed ''
Assassin's Creed'', based on the
video game franchise of the same name. 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. The film premiered at the 2019
Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Australian cinemas in 2020. Kurzel was attached to direct multiple episodes of Apple TV's television adaptation of the 2003 novel
Shantaram. However, Kurzel departed the project during a production hiatus in February 2020. In late 2020, it was announced Kurzel would direct
Nitram, a film depicting the events leading up to the
Port Arthur massacre. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the
2021 Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, it was announced Kurzel would adapt
Richard Flanagan's
Booker Prize-winning novel
The Narrow Road to the Deep North for television, with frequent collaborator Shaun Grant.
The series entered production in 2023, with
Jacob Elordi and
Ciarán Hinds attached in the leading role.
Ellis Park, a documentary by Kurzel about musician
Warren Ellis and the animal sanctuary he co-founded, premiered at the
Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2024. ==Personal life==