Julka

by Valeria Cozzarini

Julka, 2025, animated, rotoscoping, digital DCP, 1,85:1, 24, c + bw, 11 min
Finished

SI, IT, HR, BG

Julka is a Slovenian-speaking eight-year-old girl who has two friends, Danilo and Marko, with whom she is inseparable. Their lives change drastically when the fascist regime bans the use of local and minority languages and begins a period of persecution and oppression. One day, a teacher hears Julka speaking Slovene in class, so he punishes her and uses violence to enforce his excessive nationalism. The story for the screenplay is based on a short story by the writer Boris Pahor, The Butterfly on the Hook.

screenwriter
Valeria Cozzarini
director
Valeria Cozzarini
producer
Boštjan Ikovic
co-producers
Andrea Trincardi, Augusta Eniti, Emanuele Nespeca, Ivana Vojvodić, Mira Boyadzhieva, Nikolay Mutafchiev, Teo Rižnar
lead animator
Valeria Cozzarini
director of photography
Miloš Srdić
music composer
Teho Teardo
film editors
Valeria Cozzarini, Teo Rižnar
production designer
Janez Prohinar
costume designer
Jelena Proković
key make-up artist
Anja Borchi
sound designers
Julij Zornik, Samo Jurca

featuring
Thais Cherbava Massi, Paolo Fagiolo, Matic Margon, Adam Gherghetta, Irena Tomažin

production
Arsmedia
co-production
RTV Slovenija, Altreforme, Solaria Film, NuFrame, 001, Tuna Film, Samsara, PREMIERstudio +
in collaboration with
Film Studio Viba Film
co-funding
Slovenian Film Centre, Io Sono Friuli Venezia Giulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission - FVG, Regional audiovisual fund Friuli Venezia Giulia, Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism - MiBACT, Re-Act, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Bulgarian National Film Center

Arsmedia
Boštjan Ikovic
info@arsmedia.si

Valeria Cozzarini started experimenting with animation during her BA in Painting at the Academy of Fine Art of Venice. She pursues experimenting with film intersecting animation and footage material in personal and commissioned projects. She took part in the European Animation Masterclass in Halle (Saale) – Germany – in 2008. In 2009 she was selected for the Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa artists’ studios in Venice. She has had valuable experiences abroad, among them a working placement at the ZKM – Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (Germany). She was awarded First Prize at the Cortinametraggio Film Festival and in 2017 Best Art Music Video Award at the Expression Art Movie Film Festival.

““I had started to know the world as a Slovenian, and now I couldn’t stand the imposition of transforming into an Italian.” – Boris Pahor Language, as a part of identity, and its negation as a form of traumatic violence: by focusing on the aspect of linguistic imposition as a tool of dominance, this short film transcends its specific context and takes on a universal significance.”