Urška Djukić is a multi-awarded film artist who is an alumna of the UNG School of Arts and the pride of our faculty. The filming of her highly anticipated debut feature film with the working title Little Trouble Girls began in the Friuli town of Čedad on June 20.
Last year, the European Film Academy (EFA) awarded Urška’s short animated documentary Granny’s Sexual Life (2021) the best European short film. The film’s producer Boštjan Virc described this success as a historic achievement of Slovenian cinema, comparable to the top results achieved by Slovenian athletes in the world. This year, Granny’s Sexual Life won the César, an award from the French Film Academy. Last week, Urška Djukić received the Župančič Award of the City of Ljubljana for her creative work in the last two years. Read some more about Urška here.
Little Trouble Girls continues an important theme that Urška developed in Granny’s Sexual Life, that is, the influence of social patterns and rules passed down through the generations on girls and their perception of their own bodies.
The story of the film is about a shy and sensitive teenager, Lucia, who, growing up, navigates between the expectations of the environment and the discovery of her own sexuality. It is a tense but also humorous coming-of-age film that searches for an answer to the question of whose body is my body.
The main character Lucija is played by Jara Sofija Ostan, and her friend Ana Maria is played by Mina Švajger. The cast also includes recognized names: Saša Tabaković (choir leader), Lotos Vincenc Šparovec (father Niko), Špela Frlic (aunt Milena), Staša Popović (Klara), Mateja Strle (Uršula), Brane Završan ( Dr. Primožič), Saša Pavček (sister Magda), Irena Tomažin (sister Kati), Mattia Casson (worker). The film also features a project girls’ choir with 26 professional singers.
foto Arhiv SPOK Films
Urška Djukić wrote the screenplay for the debut film with Marina Gumzi, who is also the co-producer of the film, and developed it at intensive international programs and workshops for the development of debut films, such as Cinéfondation Rezidence (residency within the Cannes Film Festival), Torino Film Lab, Ponta Lopud, First Film First in Residence Moulin D’Ande. The development of the project was co-financed by the Slovenian Film Center, Re-act, the Creative Europe Media program and the French region of New Aquitaine.
Few our mentors work on the filma – Ivan Antić, our sound mentor, is a mix recorder on set, the producer of the film is Joško Rutar and an actress in film is Nataša Burger.
The film is co-created by director of photography Lev Predan Kowarski, set designer Vasja Kokelj, the Italian costume designer Gilda Venturini joined the team, and the mask designer is Eva Uršič. The music for the film will be composed by Lojze Krajnčan, with Jasna Žitnik participating as the artistic director of the performing choir. The sound will be designed by Julij Zornik – TBC. Assembler Vladimir Gojun comes from Croatia. The producers of the film are also Miha Černec and David Cej for the production of Staragar I.T. (Italy), Katarina Prpić for the production of Izazov 365 (Croatia), co-producers of the film are Nosorogi and RTV Slovenia.
The production of the film Little Trouble Girls is co-financed by the Slovenian Film Center, the public agency of the Republic of Slovenia, RTV Slovenia, the Film Directorate of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Fund for Audiovisual Media of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the Film Commission of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Croatian Audiovisual Center. The film is being produced with the support of the Arri International Support Programme.
Source: Slovenian film centre