Katarina Bogdanović Kukla, a Macedonian-Slovenian director and artist who has been living and working in Belgrade in recent years, selected her five favorite regional films of 2025 for Vogue Adria.
Bojana JovanovićDecember 17, 2025
The first film I remember watching from beginning to end, not counting whatever I happened to catch in passing while my grandparents were watching something like Žikina dinastija or The Marathon Family in the living room, was probably one of the first two Mission: Impossible films. I was around six years old, and I am not sure why my father decided it was a great choice for a six-year-old whose own, not so impossible, mission consisted of a single idea: cutting the hair of every Barbie doll she could get her hands on. The point is that I have always been surrounded by films, while cutting Barbie hair, while my mother was breastfeeding my younger sister, and whenever guests came over. If we fast-forward some twenty years, not much has changed, and our regional film scene is diverse enough to offer me a fitting film for every life situation. Given a topic like this, it felt natural to ask Katarina Bogdanović Kukla for recommendations of the films that marked 2025. Her film Fantasy, which I watched at the Sarajevo Film Festival, is one that would certainly stand out if I were putting together my own list. We asked Kukla to share her favorite regional films of 2025, the ones that shook her, delighted her, or stayed with her long after watching.
Film title: Little Trouble Girls
Film description: Sixteen-year-old Lucija joins a Catholic choir and discovers herself, her sensuality, and her sexuality.
Cast, directors: Urška Đukić, Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Švajger, Saša Tabaković
Why it made the favorites list: A superbly acted, directed, and shot debut film that does not feel like a debut at all.
When to watch: On a Friday evening before going out.
Littke trouble girls, Urška Đukić, imdb
Film title: Hysterical Fit of Laughter
Film description: God forbid a woman has a hobby.
Cast, directors: Matija Gluščević and Dušan Zorić, Snježana Sinovčić-Šiško
Why it made the favorites list: Because Dušan and Matija are the future of cinema.
When to watch: On a Sunday evening, to prepare you for the workweek.
Hysterical Fit of Laughter, Matija Gluščević & Dušan Zorić, imdb
Film title: Wind, Talk to Me
Film description: Stefan’s greeting to the wind and to his mother who left with it.
Cast, directors: Stefan Đorđević
Why it made the favorites list: For its sincerity, warmth, and vulnerability, for the sweetest Lia, and for a touch of self-irony.
When to watch: When the workweek is over.
Wind, Talk to Me, Stefan Đorđević
Film title: The Mountain Won’t Move
Film description: A film about some of the last shepherds at 2,400 meters in Macedonia who, along with many sheep, have dogs named Turbo, Stalin, Tito, Hitler, Beliska, and others.
Cast, directors: Petra Seliškar
Why it made the favorites list: The directing, editing, and cinematography bring the young men and the woman who live completely differently from most of their peers so close to the audience, capturing the collision between tradition and contemporary life.
When to watch: When you are very warmly tucked in.
The mountain won’t move, Petra Seliškar, imdb
Film title: Ida, Who Sang So Badly That Even the Dead Rose from the Dead and Sang Along with Her
Film description: A film about a girl named Ida who wants to save her grandmother by singing, despite having no sense of pitch.
Cast, directors: Ester Ivakič, Lana Marič, Judita Franković Brdar, Matej Puc
Why it made the favorites list: A film I want to see as soon as possible and about which I have heard nothing but praise.
When to watch: As soon as possible.
Ida, Who Sang So Badly That Even the Dead Rose from the Dead and Sang Along with Her, Ester Ivakič, imdb
Two more films I have not yet managed to see, but desperately want to: Sorella di Clausura, God Will Not Help
