Kukla: “Fantasy” playing with tension between rawness and gentleness

In her debut feature, director Kukla delves into the complexities of gender, desire, and self-discovery through the story of three young girls and their relationship with a transgender woman named Fantasy

 

What does it mean to you to have "Fantasy" presented at the Sarajevo Film Festival? 

It’s a great honour and feels like a sort of homecoming. Sarajevo is a city that means a lot to me, both personally and professionally. The Sarajevo Film Festival is a platform whose values resonate deeply with mine, and it offers a beautiful opportunity for filmmakers from the Balkans to connect with the world. 

In "Fantasy", you return to the characters from your acclaimed short film "Sisters", once again working with Mia Skrbinac, Mina Milovanović, and Sarah Al Saleh. What made you want to revisit these characters, and how did your collaboration with the actresses evolve this time around compared to your work on "Sisters"? 

Actually, idea for "Fantasy" sparked years ago, but having just come out of academy I had no experience with the long form and no support system to make one. So I decided to make Sisters as some sort of a case study for "Fantasy". It then became its’ own universe and paved the way for "Fantasy", as some sort of a manifesto. All these years we have been developing the characters with the actresses and their story lines. It was important to nurture the sisterhood but also discover the film visually, doing a lot of tests, photos, location scouts and visual documents. 

How did the casting process for "Fantasy" unfold, and what drew you to Alina Juhart? 

The intention was, as with all other characters, to find people who embody the character and live their truth. Almost all actors in the film are first-timers, with the exception of Mia Skrbinac who is a professional actress. Rather than looking for someone with prior acting experience I wanted to find Fantasy who lives her own truth in real life as I feel it is very important to support visibility on screen. I met amazing women during the casting process and when I met Alina it developed into a 4-hour long talk. Alina has both the sensitivity and the strength that I was looking for. She was willing to bring Fantasy to life and to get really vulnerable and honest in the process. I love her bravery and her love for life. 

To me the main visual metaphor is the color shift from grey to lilac. While the girls’ world is grey, steeped in brutalist concrete, she brings color, softness and playfulness into their life and shows them another way is possible. 

The film explores a personal journey around gender identity while also reflecting on broader societal expectations. How did you find a balance between these two aspects of the story so that they could support each other? 

I feel like in my work I often just hold a mirror to the world I’m surrounded by. I was researching the evolution of a woman’s position in the Balkans, a complex region full of contradictions. For the characters of Mihrije, Jasna and Sina I drew inspiration from the phenomen of virđinas and reincarnated them into contemporary space which is still full of tradition. It was a meeting of the past and present. I guess it all comes down to the question who we are when we have nobody left to define us. Can we view ourselves with our own eyes? Is the female gaze possible as a pure perspective, uncontaminated by the male gaze… 

You’ve built an impressive career directing music videos, including those for artists like Senidah and Dino Merlin. How did your experience with visually bold music videos shape the way you approached "Fantasy", both in terms of storytelling and style? 

Thank you for the recognition! Bold visual language comes naturally to me, quite instinctive, it’s how I process the world and tell stories. As mentioned before, the central visual question was how to portray the transformation from the stark brutalist Yugoslav blocks to Fantasy’s soft world, playing with tension between rawness and gentleness. The film walks a fine line between reality and fantasy, that is why we leaned into magic realism, using visual metaphors as symbols of becoming and transformation. We also borrowed elements from the music video world to portray the inner worlds of the characters, always with devotion to create a cinematic language that truly serves the story. 

Given your background in music videos, did that influence the way you thought about music in "Fantasy"? 

Music has always played a big part in my life, both personally and professionally, so its inclusion in the film felt completely organic. I don’t think of music as a passive element that simply colours the atmosphere, I see it as an active participant. Sometimes I hear it as an additional character, sometimes as a disruption of a state of mind, sometimes as a commentary. Sound is very important to me, and I feel really grateful to have worked on fantasy with composed Relja Ćupić and sound designer Julij Zornik. The process was really collaborative and meticulous. 

How did you work with your DP Lazar Bogdanović to visually express the inner lives of the characters? 

This is his second feature, so he brought valuable experience with him. We are a team that is working together really a lot, he is also my personal partner, which means our world is intertwined with cinema. We share a deep visual language and mutual understanding, which allowed us to create something truly intimate and immersive. 

Do you see yourself continuing the stories of Jasna, Sina, and Mihrije in the future, or do you feel ready to let these characters rest for now? 

Fantasy took a long time to be born, and now she’s finally here, alive and ready to meet the world. After such a challenging process, I told myself I’d never make another film again… but I’m already working on a new one, with a new story and universe. While Mihrije, Jasna, Sina, and Fantasy are out traveling the world with the film "Fantasy", I’d love to work with the same actresses again, just in different characters' shoes.