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LOCARNO 2025 Cineasti del Presente

Kukla • Regista di Fantasy

“Ho sempre pensato a Fantasy come a una persona che porta una sorta di gentile rivoluzione”

di 

- La regista slovena ci parla del suo lungometraggio, séguito del pluripremiato cortometraggio Sisters, e del ritorno al suo trio di protagoniste

Kukla • Regista di Fantasy
(© Edoardo Nerboni)

Questo articolo è disponibile in inglese.

A notable entry in the Filmmakers of the Present section at Locarno, Fantasy [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Kukla
scheda film
]
follows the everyday lives of three friends, Mihrije, Sina and Jasna, who refuse to comply with social expectations, building a comfort zone of sorts around their defiance. That is, until they cross paths with a dazzling woman named Fantasy. Developed from Slovenian director Kukla’s short film Sisters, which won the Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand in 2021, Fantasy inspired an insightful conversation about the characters and the casting, as well as the beauty of making a first feature based on one’s own experience of female friendship.

Cineuropa: Fantasy seems like a natural continuation of your short film Sisters. Did you know you’d make a feature back then?
Kukla: About ten years ago, when I decided I wanted to make a short film, I knew I would have to make it about something that happened to me. It had been a difficult period for me, a period of grieving, and even though I wasn’t ready to approach a feature film – I was still learning a lot about life and relationships – I still wanted to draw from my own memories of being on the cusp of adulthood. Making the short was a collaborative process, with only Mia Skrbinac being a professional actress, while the other girls were first-time actors. We developed the characters together with them, their lines, their stories; they even decorated their characters’ rooms.

What was it about having three female friends as the focus point that appealed to you?
I find such a triangle to be the most interesting form of female friendship, in my experience. Especially since, when you’re so used to being together, you would have to work really hard to grow up. You’d have to be focused in order to discover your identity and the fact that maybe you don’t have it for real, or at least not yet. In the case of Mihrije, Sina and Jasna, they’re so used to being with one another that they don't feel like they have to change or discover anything new.

But when Fantasy appears in their lives, it doesn’t feel like a form of disruption. Sure, the ripples of her presence are disruptive, but there’s the joy of discovering another kind of life. How did you go about writing a character who’s at once so real and so fantastical?
That’s a very eloquent way to put it. I always thought of Fantasy as someone who brings with her a gentle kind of disruption. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to cast a trans woman to play the role of a trans woman, and I wanted someone to be able to bring out that kind of newfound energy in the group of girls. During the auditions, I met Alina [Juhart], and we ended up talking for four hours. It’s funny; she even offered to drive me back to where I was staying because it was close. Well, it turned out we were living five minutes apart from one another without even knowing it! She had been part of a talent show and emanated this dignity and respect, but she also has this internal power to be fearless.

The film takes a detour together with Fantasy, when she goes to North Macedonia, and we get a glimpse of her past life. Can you tell me more about striking a balance between the stark reality of what's left behind and confronting the audience’s expectations when her family accepts her for who she is?
Actually, we shot this part of the film in the place where I was born, and most of the people there were, you know, my relatives. I was wondering what their reaction would be when they meet Alina. Even though they are so warm and so welcoming, I just couldn’t tell in advance. But as soon as they saw her, they wanted to talk to her and take photos of her; they were huge fans already! Perhaps I didn't realise how famous she was until then, but I was astonished to discover that pop culture is actually really powerful! It felt very important in terms of acceptance as well: these people see someone who has self-respect and self-love, so that ignites a spark of respect in them, too.

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