When I saw it, all those feelings came back I really wanted to go back to Coolgardie, to meet all the people once again and talk to them now, when I dont have to be scared of losing my job anymore.. Your boss berates you from across the bar, and describes you as "fresh meat", laughing along with the leering men. While the film centres on the jarring experiences of the Finnish backpackers with often-drunk local men, there were many times during the screening when the Kalgoorlie cinema erupted with laughter. You don't have your own car and are relying on the same locals who've made you fear for your safety in the pub in order to go anywhere else. The local pub, the Hotel Denver, is the hellhole young Finnish backpackers, Stephanie and Lina, find themselves in. For something soaked in XXXX beer, Hotel Coolgardie is absolutely sobering, absolutely skin-crawling and absolutely necessary viewing. Theyscore the dubious honour of being barmaids at the local watering hole in Coolgardie, a speck of a town 38 kilometres from Kalgoorlie populated predominantly by miners most of them men. It is leaves a very bad taste at the end of a film in which violence never breaks out, but there are several moments when it feels on the cards. Australian release date: 23 February 2023. Popular attractions Ben Prior Park and Goldfields Museum & Visitor Centre are located nearby. Stephie and Lina are part of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. By not really wanting to play the game, or interact the way they were expected, they kind of became this blank canvas for people to project their own simmering inner conflicts on to. Runtime: 102 mins. Our guests praise the restaurant and the helpful staff in our reviews. 22.09 mi from city center. Lake Lefroy Motel and Bar. Clio and Becky were perceived a pair of much-loved, fun-loving good-time gals who gave as good as they got, so as the two newbies struggle with the till, drinks orders, slang and sexist and xenophobic slurs, Pete's patience quickly wears thin. You should be able to hold it up to scrutiny.. 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This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Hotel Coolgardie: disturbing doco follows two backpackers in the Australian outback Lina (left) with kindhearted local The Canman - one of the few benevolent figures in the troubling documentary. Recently renovated. A documentary set in an isolated outback town in Western Australia is highlighting the line between no-nonsense country locals and city blow-ins. Review of Denver City Hotel. Critics Consensus 93% HD; Documentary; 1 Hour 23 Minutes 2017; 5.0 1 Rating; Downtown Coolgardie, where the flies are very friendly. Melbourne Herald Sun, sad FUNNY cringe-worthy STAGGERING shocking EXTRAORDINARY Coolgardie is a mining town, so most of the population will be men who "fly in fly out" to work on up to 4 weeks on 1 week off swings. The documentary's filmmaker first discovered the outback hotel about fifteen years prior to the doc debuting. 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The trailer highlights the drunken behaviour of the Denver City's patrons, with the backpackers described as "fresh meat' by one patron and asked for sex by another. "Nah, she'll be all good mate," one local man said. to DISTURBING verbal and physical violations Front Row Reviews, Hotel Coolgardie is to BOGANS what JAWS is to SHARKS. The Brag, an ethnography of LIBIDINAL MASCULINITY, BOOZING and CUSSING Senses of Cinema, a STAGGERING piece of work Its a premise right out of Wake in Fright: a pair of penniless down-on-their-luck foreigners arrive in a backwater Australian town located in the middle of sun-baked, dirt-slathered, sweat-stained nowhere. Described as "a nightmare version of Cheers" (POV Magazine) and "one of the most captivating Australian documentar | dG1fbm9wX0pxOU1fUjg. The town of Coolgardie, with its grand, but tired, facades, empty blocks of land and quiet streets, is far from the bustling WA gold capital it was in the late 1800s, once dubbed the mother of the Goldfields. There are moments of levity - and a lot of heart in form of a toothless gentle giant named Can Man - but through the chuckles remains a looming threat that all women will be familiar with. Through an agency, they find jobs as barmaids at the Denver City Hotel in the remote mining town of Coolgardie. He says the program, one of several, had no involvement with the film, and due to being "heavily controlled" it was a roaring success. Source: Hot Docs. Cinema Australia, BLOODY AMAZING do not miss it. Everyone feels good when theyre a part of a gang and part of reinforcing that is identifying who is not in the gang, by picking differences such as race, gender or language.. It gives concrete . A version of this article first appeared in June 2017. "Our concern was in an observational film about a particular situation; it's up to the audience to decide.". Hospitality Kalgoorlie, SureStay Collection by Best Western. "If we had been in a better economic situation, we would have left the same day we arrived in Coolgardie," says Lina simply. With Nicolina, Stephanie, Peter Coffey, John Joseph Lowe. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. But after they were robbed in Bali, they needed the work to replenish their travel fund and return home. Director defends controversial documentary on 'backpacker nightmare' at Coolgardie Pub, There is an emergency bushfire warning in place for Maintongoonin Victoria. Please try again. And thats where things start to go wrong. Hotel Coolgardie | movie | 2017 | Official Trailer. Its us. As uncomfortable as it is essential, Hotel Coolgardie bears witness to a hot-button issue that, in an era of pay equity and gender equality, demands to be addressed. (Although Denver City Hotel is under new management as of December and the new owner, who's a woman, is now employing "suitable locals" as bar staff). Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hotel Coolgardie at Amazon.com. Years on, Lina says watching the film was emotional and left her feeling angry. Hotel Coolgardie trailer: watch an outback Australian nightmare unfold Guardian Director Pete Gleeson's documentary, Hotel Coolgardie, explores what happens when two 20-something Finnish. Here there is just a pub and a swimming pool. They endure some truly impressive (if occasionally amusing) sexism with just a sprinkle of casual racism. Released January 7th, 2018, 'Hotel Coolgardie' stars The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 24 min, and received a user score of 75 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 11 experienced . The relationship between backpackers and the Australian outback is a popular subject for fictional horror film, but according to new documentaryHotelCoolgardiethe reality is almostas disturbing. Nicolina (Self)Stephanie (Self)Peter Coffey (Self)John Joseph Lowe (Self - Canman) Pete Gleeson On a dusty highway between Australia's most isolated city and its largest gold pit lies Coolgardie . per night. Hotel Coolgardie is an observational-style documentary capturing the experiences of two Finnish backpackers who take jobs at the only pub in the small mining town of Coolgardie, 500 kilometres east of Perth. "We thought it might have been filmed 1012 years ago," Mr Cullen told Mornings. Susannah Guthrie Entertainment Editor @susguthrie Repeats of the Foxtel series Kalgoorlie Cops, filmed two years before Hotel Coolgardie, have also drawn criticism from Goldfields leaders and tourism officials. It was filmed a few years ago and I had already forgotten some of the things that happened. "It's an interpretation, and it's the vision as seen through the eyes of two people who come and work at a particular time, in this particular place under particular circumstances," he said. He reminded people that it was a film and by that very nature, it was only able to capture a limited perspective. surprisingly moving portrait of small town insularity, fragile masculinity and But, of course, playing nice comes with its own set of consequences, as the girls find out during an alcohol-fuelled camping trip that turns sour. While the area was historically known for its skimpy barmaids and working-class culture, growing numbers of permanent residents have seen the region's image rapidly changing. 'Dark' outback documentary, Hotel Coolgardie, holds mirror to remote Australia's culture, There is an emergency bushfire warning in place for Maintongoonin Victoria. The documentary was filmed several years ago and the pub is now under new management. Shire President Malcolm Cullen said he would not be going out of his way to view the film. aybe we should have some sort of competition jelly wrestling or wet T-shirt, one patron suggests, referring tothe new arrivals and their predecessors. The burger came with a garlic bun top and bottom (good). Coolgardie itself is now more famous for it's annual Coolgardie Day, which attracted a crowd of more than 10,000 people last September. Gleeson and his team aimed for an observational style,keeping his subjects at arms-length and never intervening in the sometimes-concerningaction. There's no escape. And of course, the locals. It was difficult to be in a foreign country, with no money, no family and without any support system. You're in Coolgardie, a mining town in outback Western Australia, 40 kilometres west of Kalgoorlie and a six-hour drive to Perth. "The pub's like an institution, and you've got institutionalised behaviours going on in there that have been normalised over a number of years," he said. their working holiday rapidly deteriorates into a bizarre test of endurance, as they discover You think that's fine, because you need to work long enough to save the money to finish your "dream trip". Phil Thompson on Google (August 21, 2019, 5:02 am) Stopped here for some lunch, we had roast chicken and gravy rolls and a huge serve of wedges. Boulder (Near Coolgardie) Comfortable Villa across the road from the Historic Recreation Hotel is set in Boulder. A picnic area, laundry facilities, and barbecue grills are also on offer. Australia was always on the top list of places to visit, Lina explains. Crowds line the streets in Coolgardie last year. But the story is real. Hotel Coolgardie is an ugly film, but a revealing one After being robbed in Bali, Finnish backpackers Stephie and Lina find themselves desperate for cash in Perth (never a good position to be in). "I was a bit sad, because it was never like that, I don't reckon. Coopers Crossing this ain't. 863 were here. It sounds like the beginnings of a horror movie, and in many ways it is. Lina (left) with kindhearted local The Canman - one of the few benevolent figures in the troubling documentary. Coolgardie GoldRush Motels provides free WiFi throughout the property and rooms with air conditioning in Coolgardie. (855) 516-1090. The horrific ordeal two broke Finnish backpackers faced when they arrived to work as bartenders in the Australian outback is laid bare in a shocking documentary. Hotel Coolgardieis to bogans whatJawsis to sharks. Movie Review: Hotel Coolgardie Filmmaker Pete Gleeson explores the reactions of two new barmaids in a remote country pub. "Of course there were times when people treated them kindly and with generosity," he said. All rights reserved. Hotels with Free Wifi in Coolgardie. We're guessing Lina won't be making a return visit. But director Pete Gleeson said there was more to the film that the portrayal of drunken locals. He said he understood the apprehension that some people who lived in Coolgardie may feel without having seen the film.