Adrian Chiarella
Australian writer filmmaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adrian Chiarella is an Australian director and writer. He's known for his work on Leviticus, a queer coming-of-age psychological horror film which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and was subsequently acquired for international distribution by Neon.[1] His prior work includes the "Walking Gambit" episode of SBS anthology series Erotic Stories, which won an AWGIE in 2025, acclaimed short film Dwarf Planet, which screened at the 68th Sydney Film Festival in 2021, and early editing pre-visualization work for Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Chiarella is a graduate of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and is repped in all areas by WME and Cameron's Management.
Early life and career
Chiarella grew up in Sydney, Australia born to an Italian father and Chinese mother.[2] He is a second-generation immigrant on his mother's side.[3]
Chiarella attended the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), and it was during his time there that he completed an internship in pre- and post-production editing for Baz Luhrmann's feature film Australia. His editing repertoire also includes feature film Teenage Kicks by director Craig Boreham and acclaimed short film The Love Song of Iskra Prufrock, for which he received an Australian Screen Editors Award. He subsequently moved into directing with work on campaigns for numerous Foxtel television series, and worked in development for showrunner Tony Ayres' production company, TAP.[4]
His short films have screened at international film festivals to broad acclaim, earning him nominations and awards from the Australian Director's Guild, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television (AACTA), and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.[4]
Among Chiarella's filmmaking inspirations, he has cited Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Wong Kar-wai, and Chen Kaige[3]; he's been vocal
about the importance of queer representation in cinema.[5] Chiarella has also stated that casting for Leviticus drew on his admiration for the "bold, punk style" of 1993 crime comedy-drama Bad Boy Bubby,[6] whose star Nicholas Hope appears in Leviticus as the Deliverance Preacher; other notable inspirations include cult classics A Tale of Two Sisters, It Follows, and Let The Right One In.[3]
Chiarella is signed with Cameron's Management and WME.[7]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Touch | Writer, Director | Short film |
| 2018 | Black Lips | Writer, Director | Short film |
| 2020 | Dwarf Planet | Writer, Director | Short film |
| 2026 | Leviticus | Writer, Director | Feature film |
Television
| Year | Title | Distributor | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Totally Completely Fine | Sundance Now | Director | Episode: "Not All Heroes Carry Vape" |
| 2023 | Erotic Stories | SBS | Writer | Episode: "Walking Gambit" |
| 2023 | Five Bedrooms | Paramount+ | Director | 2 episodes |
Personal life
Chiarella is a gay man.[3]
