Athens-based sales agent Heretic has added to its slate “Little Trouble Girls” from Slovenian director Orska Djukic, which has its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s “Perspectives” section – reserved for fantasy film debuts. The trailer debuts below.
The film focuses on introverted 16-year-old Lucia, who joins her Catholic school’s all-girls choir, where she befriends Ana Maria, a popular and seductive third-year student. But when the choir travels to a rural monastery for a weekend of intense rehearsals, Lucia’s interest in a dark-eyed conservator tests her friendship with Anna Maria and the other girls. As she navigates unfamiliar surroundings and her emerging sexuality, Lucia begins to question her beliefs and values, disrupting the harmony within the choir.
“I began to explore the female voice that has been often silenced throughout history,” Djukic said in a statement. “This led me into an awkward relationship with sex, sin, and guilt. Through a sensitive young girl shaped by societal norms around sin, I wanted to delve into how a young man discovers his inner strength.”
“The feelings of guilt surrounding natural instincts are something I personally experienced growing up. Although my family was not strictly religious, my mother raised me according to traditional Catholic ideas about what a ‘good girl’ should be. Later, I realized that these ideas The imposed ideas on many generations of girls, including my family – especially those around body image, shame and sexuality – are rigid and clumsy.
“With Little Trouble Girls, I wanted to explore the mysteries of the senses as tools for understanding ourselves. I believe that the long-standing taboo around sexuality has left us unable to fully understand or harness its potential power. The body has an instinctive intelligence of its own, which guides us if we listen carefully. The concept of false sexuality and the lack of education around it is a clever mechanism for disconnecting individuals from their inner source of power. I would say that it is important to allow ourselves to hear and trust our intuition, even when it conflicts with norms Societal People who are strongly attached to their bodies cannot be easily controlled because they trust their internal guidance more than external guidance.
In 2019, Djukic participated in the 39th edition of the Cinefundación Residency in Cannes, where she developed the film “Little Trouble Girls”, which subsequently received the Best Work in Progress Project award at the Les Arcs Film Festival in December 2023.
Djukic’s latest short film, “Granny’s Sexual Life,” has won more than 50 awards, including the 2022 European Film Award for Best Short Film and the 2023 César Award for Best Animated Short Film. Djukic’s previous short films also include “The Right One”, part of the omnibus film “SEE Factory Sarajevo Mon Amour” which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2019.
Ioanna Stace, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Heretic, commented: “Little Trouble Girls is an intimate and stunning exploration of desire, friendship and faith, told with rare sensitivity and boldness. The film effortlessly weaves raw emotion with a unique perspective, and promises to engage audiences and buyers alike.” With this emphatic debut, Orska Djokic announces herself as a compelling new female voice in cinema, one to watch in the years to come.
“Little Trouble Girls” is produced by Jozko Rotar and Miha Czernik for Spok Films (Slovenia), in co-production with Staragara IT (Italy), 365 Films (Croatia), Non Aligned Films (Serbia), Nosorogi and OINK (both Slovenia). Co-producer is Sister (France).
The film is supported by the Slovenian Film Center, Eurimages, RTV Slovenija, Viba Film, Ministry of Culture – Directorate of Cinema and Audiovisual of Italy, FVG Flm Fund, FVG Film Commission, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center of Serbia, Re-act, Region. Nouvelle Aquitaine and Europe Creative Media.
The film is sponsored by the Arri International Support Program and GO Nova Gorica/Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025.
Heretic also handles international sales of the IFFR Tiger competition title Wind, Talk to Me, and is a Berlinale competition producer of Hot Milk, the feature debut of Rebecca Lenkiewicz (writer of Ida, Disobedience, and Disobedience). “She Said”) starring Vicky Cripps, Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw.