We met up with Serbian-Australian actor and filmmaker Bojana Novakovic at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, where her directorial debut, The Forbidden Aunt, had its world premiere in the Competition Programme – Documentary Film. Known for her roles in productions including I, Tonya, Birds of Prey and Westworld, Novakovic initially set out to make a short, humorous portrait of her eccentric aunt Gordana in Serbia. 

What began as an intimate family project gradually grew into a story spanning generations of women, uncovering sexual violence, addiction and long-buried family trauma. Yet The Forbidden Aunt remains strikingly funny, using Gordana’s larger-than-life personality, family dynamics and the heightened world of soap operas to navigate considerably darker territory. Novakovic discusses the film’s long journey to the screen, the complicated legacy of female strength, the role of humour when dealing with trauma, and the artistic approach she developed to tell a story in which she is both filmmaker and family member.