The debut feature film from Polish-born Australian visual artist and filmmaker Kuba Dorabialski, Agata the Writer, and Australian producer Alex White (Babyteeth) will have its World Premiere in Giornate degli Autori at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. Mia Wasikowska (Leviticus, Club Zero) stars as a Polish-Australian satirical novelist who travels from Sydney to Sarajevo to write a war novel but finds herself within a startling mystery, forcing her to question her role as a storyteller.

Agata the Writer follows a satirical writer who goes to Sarajevo to write a “serious” novel about the war, but finds herself tangled in self-doubt, an art theft, and the complexity of storytelling.

Agata the Writer is one of ten films selected to be screened in the prestigious Giornate degli Autori. It is the first Australian film to be selected for this section in the past 10 years.

White and Dorabialski said “It is an honour and absolute thrill to be having the world premiere of Agata the Writer in Giornate degli Autori at the Venice Film Festival, a forum known for its belief in cinema in its most daring and surprising form.”

Alongside White, whose film Babyteeth world premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2019, the film is executive produced by Erik Black, Wasikowska and Australian fashion brand Alémais. Writer/director Dorabialski whose art practice often bridges the worlds of gallery-based video installation and cinema, also serves as cinematographer, editor and composer of the film.

Agata the Writer is a Whitefalk Films and Produktion Productions film. Principal production funding from Screen Australia. Financed with support from Creative Australia and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. Local distribution by Bonsai Films.

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