''Slovenian Girl'' (; released in the United States as ''A Call Girl'') is a 2009

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by

Damjan Kozole Damjan Kozole (born 1964 in Brežice, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia) is a Slovenian filmmaker whose directing credits include the 2003 critically acclaimed ''Spare Parts'' and 2009 worldwide released ''Slovenian Girl'', among others. ''S ...

. It stars

Nina Ivanišin Nina Ivanišin is a Slovenian film and theatre actress. She was born in 1985 in Maribor, Slovenia. She graduated from Ljubljana Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, Film and Theatre Academy (AGRFT). Ivanišin has starred in several S ...

as Aleksandra, a 23-year-old Slovenian who leads a double life as a respectable student and a

call girl A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who (unlike a street prostitution, street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by ...

. The film premiered at the 2009

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internatio ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

before being released theatrically in more than 30 countries, including the United States. According to Shaz Bennett of '' Moving Pictures'', "the film is ultimately a fascinating study of

free enterprise In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

in free fall. In this mesmerizing chamber piece, director Damjan Kozole has contrived a new style of narrative to convey a view of capitalist culture at once outrageous and non-judgmental."

Premise

Set in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, Slovenia, in 2008, during the Slovenian presidency of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Aleksandra is a 23-year-old English-language student who comes from a small town. Her parents are divorced and she hardly sees her mother. Neither her friends nor her family knows that Aleksandra runs personal ads under the nickname ''Slovenka'' ("Slovenian girl"), and that prostitution is her secret source of income. Aleksandra is very good at manipulating others (including her father and ex-boyfriend); she is an accomplished liar, and also a bit of a thief. She resents her mother and regards her as being selfish. Her ambition is to escape the banality of her hometown and settle in the big city in style, which necessitates her lucrative clandestine job. But that occupation leads her to a confrontation with dangerous local criminals, and suddenly she must live in fear as she struggles to maintain her income.

Cast

as Aleksandra *

Peter Musevski Peter Musevski (12 June 1965 – 18 March 2020) was a Slovenian actor. He was born in 1965 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He studied drama acting at the Ljubljana Film Academy (AGRFT). He appeared in many award-winning films that received prizes at the ...

as Edo

Festivals

The film was screened at more than 70 international film festivals including

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, London Raindance, Montreal, Pusan, Warsaw, Valencia, São Paulo, Cairo, Thessaloniki,

Les Arcs Les Arcs () is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, in the Tarentaise Valley town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Initially created by Robert Blanc and Roger Godino, it is a part of the huge Paradiski system which is under ownership by Compagnie ...

, Palm Springs,

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Rotterdam International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, Chicago, New York, Edinburgh, Jerusalem, Cinessonne Paris.

Critical reception

Alissa Simon of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' referred to the title character as "one of the most coolly calculating

antiheroine An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as Ideal (ethics), idealism ...

s to grace the silver screen." '' Daily Film Dose'' says the film "is a resolutely grim, haunting, beautifully crafted and powerfully acted story of a young woman. This is a heart-breaking movie." For ''

Film Monthly A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

'', "a ''Call Girl'' is an exciting movie to experience because it is a film that seems to value character over plot, and substance over style. With a elegantly written script that creates real three-dimensional characters, and a sparse aesthetic style, director Damjan Kozole's affecting character study creates a distinctive mood that is hard to shake off.” The French newspaper ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' says, "lie by lie, the heroine is becoming more appealing, thanks to the incredible performance of Nina Ivanišin. It is she who carries the film, and thanks to her the film is a 'must see.'" According to ''

Moving Pictures Magazine ''Moving Pictures'' was a quarterly magazine focusing on the film industry and the art of film. It was published from 1989 to 2012. The corporate motto was "Going places other film magazines fear to tread". History The ''Moving Pictures'' brand b ...

'', "''Slovenian Girl'' is a haunting meditation on capitalism and the world's oldest profession", while Mike Goodridge in ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' says "it's a clever metaphor for the dubious values of capitalism and personal gain which have spread fast through the new Europe."

Awards

* Grand Prix - Best film at the 2012

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Film Festival, Spain * Best director Award at the 2012 Girona Film Festival, Spain * Best screenplay Award at the 2012 Girona Film Festival, Spain * Best actress Award at the 2012 Girona Film Festival, Spain *

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...

, in selection for the best European film 2010 * Prix du Public at the 2010 Festival du cinéma européen in

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain * Best actress Award at the 2009 Les Arcs European Film Festival, France

References

External links

*
''Variety''

''SBCC Film Reviews''

''Screen Daily''

''Rotterdam International Film Festival''

''Le Figaro''

''Film Movement''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovenian Girl 2009 films 2009 drama films Bosnia and Herzegovina drama films Croatian drama films German drama films Films about prostitution Films set in Ljubljana Films shot in Slovenia Serbian drama films Serbian independent films Slovenian drama films Slovene-language films English-language Bosnian films English-language Croatian films English-language German films English-language Serbian films English-language Slovenian films 2000s German films