Venice-Selected ‘Agata the Writer’ Boarded by MMM Film Sales

French sales company MMM Film Sales has acquired the international rights to “Agata the Writer,” starring Mia Wasikowska, which will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Venice Days section, in competition.

The Australian film is directed by filmmaker and artist Kuba Dorabialski, and is produced by Alex White, best known for “Babyteeth.”

It follows Agata, a Polish-Australian novelist who travels from Sydney to Sarajevo to write a war novel. As she gathers material for her book, she is challenged by locals who question her motives and her relationship to the history she is attempting to portray.

As her creative uncertainty grows, a strange mystery unfolds when a series of provocative and obscene artworks inexplicably disappear. Through Agata’s journey, the film reveals that her novel is not about the war itself, but about the quiet, human moments of resilience that persist in its shadow, leading her to a deeper understanding of storytelling and the responsibilities that come with being a storyteller.

The MMM Film Sales team said, “We were immediately drawn to ‘Agata the Writer’ for its unique voice and its fascinating reflection on how we engage with history and memory. Mia Wasikowska perfectly embodies the role of Agata, a writer returning to her home continent, seeking to understand and reconnect with the wounds of the recent past, and with the ways in which unresolved conflicts continue to echo in the present. Kuba Dorabialski has crafted a film that is both playful and thought-provoking, questioning the relationship between storytelling, identity and responsibility.”

“Agata the Writer” is a Whitefalk Films and Produktion Productions film. Principal production funding came from Screen Australia. It is financed with support from Creative Australia and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.

“Babyteeth,” also produced by White, had its international premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Marcello Mastroianni Award. The film was nominated for 13 Australian Academy (AACTA) Awards winning nine, including best film, director and screenplay. In 2021 the film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for best director, won the Australian Directors Guild Award for best direction and as well as a British Independent Film Award nomination for best international film.

Dorabialski is an artist and filmmaker born in Wrocław, Poland, and currently based in Sydney, Australia. He has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally and won the John Fries Award (2017) and the Fisher Ghost Art Prize (2019). In 2021 he had his first major institutional solo exhibition at Carriageworks, a single channel long form video work Connection of the Sticks, which premiered in the FLUX: Art + Film program at the Sydney Film Festival in 2023. “Agata the Writer” is his debut feature film.