Jennifer Kent will appear at live Q&A screenings for The Nightingale

Director Jennifer Kent’s Australian period piece The Nightingale is one of the most talked about films of the year.

Its reception has been mired in controversy from day one, when an Italian journalist at the Venice Film Festival yelled out a sexist remark about the filmmaker following an early creening.

It has been described by many critics as an intensely confronting experience and is widely regarded as one of the most violent films of the year.

Kent (who previously directed the horror classic The Babadook) will appear at special Q&A preview screenings in Sydney, Melbourne and August this month, ahead of The Nightingale‘s national release.

These preview Q&A screenings will be held in Sydney at Dendy Newtown and Chauvel Cinema on Sunday 18th August and Monday 19th August, in Melbourne at Cinema Nova on Tuesday 20th August and then in Tasmania, where the film was shot, fat the State Cinema on Wednesday 21st August.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Gothic period thriller set in 1825 Tasmania follows young Irish convict Claire (Aisling Franciosi) as she pursues a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the wilderness with vengeance on her mind for an appalling act committed against her family. An Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) helps the chase, like Claire, scarred by his own trauma. Director Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to stunning feature debut The Babadook. In competition at the Venice Film Festival 2018.