Adelaide Film Festival 2026 has locked in its opening night film, and confirmed the hosting of a major accolade for Australian actress, playwright and director Leah Purcell.
Adelaide Film Festival 2026 gets first details – quick links
Leah Purcell to be presented with Don Dunstan Award
Purcell will receive the Don Dunstan Award during this year’s festival for her significant contributions to the local Australian screen industry. As well as writing, directing and producing the critically acclaimed The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, Purcell is also well-known for her appearances in many major Australian productions.
She starred in 2006’s Jindabyne and Last Cab to Darwin, and has appeared in McLeod’s Daughters, Love My Way, Fallen Angels, Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Wentworth, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and Ghosts Australia. Her next roles include the upcoming Zac Power animated film, and the second season of Binge’s High Country.
‘Knowing a little bit about the person that this award is named after, Don Dunstan, he was ahead of his time with cultural and social beliefs and a progressive supporter of the arts, especially in the 1970s,’ Purcell said of the honour.
‘The legends that have come before me as recipients of this award are people I’ve worked with in the past and hope to work with in the future. All great humans and very special filmmakers and collaborators. I am immensely proud of this award; it is right up there with anything I’ve ever achieved or done in my career thus far. Thank you to the Adelaide Film Festival and Board for selecting me.’
As well as a presentation of the award, Adelaide Film Festival and Adelaide University will host an in-conversation event with Purcell, where she will share more about her career and achievements.
Adelaide Film Festival’s opening night film and other highlights
While the full lineup for Adelaide Film Festival is yet to be revealed, some highlights have been announced, including the opening night film.
As shared, Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine will open the festival. This is a historical spy drama set in 1973, charting the work of two CIA operatives dispatched to Easter Island in the lead-up to a major coup. It stars John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi.
Other highlights so far include:
- Jim Queen (dir. Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané) – ‘Disembark in a very gay Paree, where the unofficial king of Paris’s gay club scene finds his life turned upside down by heterosis, a terrible plague transforming gay men into heterosexuals.’
- Kumarangk: Sacred Women’s Business (dir. Tracey Rigney) – ‘The major new documentary charts the Hindmarsh Island bridge affair … [and] plunges back into the political frenzy that engulfed the state, as Ngarrindjeri women’s sacred knowledge collided with powerful development interests, forcing the courts to rule on what they were never equipped to comprehend.’
- Agata the Writer (dir. Kuba Dorabialski) – ‘Stars Mia Wasikowska as a Polish-Australian satirical novelist who travels from Sydney to Sarajevo to write a war novel. When she becomes caught in a startling mystery, the boundaries between writing, observation and lived experience begin to shift, forcing her to question her own role as a storyteller.’
- The Man I Love (dir. Ira Sachs) – ‘Set in New York during the height of the AIDS crisis, The Man I Love follows an art-filled life shaped by love, illness and the everyday rituals shared between people. Tender without becoming sentimental, it is a portrait of love lived under the pressure of history.’
The full program for the Adelaide Film Festival 2026 will be revealed on 15 September.
