Teona Strugar Mitevska, Sonja Prosenc

LITTLE YUGOSLAVIA

In a modernist apartment complex of ex-Yugoslavian migrants on the fringes of a Western metropolis, a vigorous woman in her fifties tastes blood, transforms into a vampire queen, and leads an army of women on a darkly comic feminist purge.

SYNOPSIS

Welcome to Little Yugoslavia, a modernist apartment complex where a migrant community clings to old-world habits on the fringes of a Western metropolis. Miliana is a sexy fifty-year-old junkie who never left home. Once a promising medical student, she sacrificed her future to care for her authoritarian father while living under the watchful control of her elderly mother, Elena, who manages her daily heroin supply. The night her father dies, Miliana finds him in a pool of blood. Their eyes lock as she dips her finger and tastes the red liquid. She likes it. Next morning Elena finds her sitting beside the dead body with her face smeared in blood as her heroin addiction is replaced by an insatiable thirst for something else. As Miliana undergoes a startling transformation, residents of the building begin disappearing. The building's caretaker vanishes, the building itself falls into decay, and Miliana, suddenly radiant and full of life, attracts growing attention. Returning from hospital after she crashes a car into a wall to get state-covered plastic surgery, Miliana’s glamorous neighbour and closest friend Pipa suspects Miliana is responsible for the disappearances. Pipa’s quest for an immaculate beauty transforms into jealousy as she observes her friend blossom. She wants the elixir of youth, but it is Miliana who decides who will join her new women’s army.  Each episode introduces another female resident whose story reshapes the mystery of the disappearances. The woman at the heart of it all, first seen as a cold-blooded killer, gradually reveals herself as a vampire queen on a mission to liberate the women around her. This is a story of women rebelling. The first season ends with the gang of vampire queens sunbathing on top of their building. This is their realm now. What will they conquer next?

CREATORS
Teona Strugar Mitevska, Sonja Prosenc

WRITERS
Teona Strugar Mitevska, Sonja Prosenc

PRODUCER
Labina Mitevska

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Sisters and brother Mitevski, Entre chien et loup

COUNTRIES
North Macedonia, Belgium

FORMAT
50 x 5

GENRE
 Horror, comedy

Teona Strugar Mitevska

CREATOR’S BIOGRAPHY

With films presented at the Venice, Tribeca, and Sarajevo Film Festivals, and the Berlin, Toronto, and Karlovy Vary International Film Festivals, filmmakers Teona Strugar Mitevska (Mother; God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya; The Happiest Man in the World) and Sonja Prosenc (Family Therapy; History of Love; The Tree) bring their cinematic voices to the world of series. Rooted in the ex-Yugoslav region and working internationally, the writer-directors offer an auteur-driven take on the cultural frictions and surreal absurdities of female existence. Little Yugoslavia was developed through the French CNC Going European programme and presented at Cinelink at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

CREATOR’S STATEMENT

This darkly comedic ensemble narrative series takes us into a socially and economically disadvantaged apartment complex on the fringes of a Western metropolis, inhabited predominantly by first- and second-generation immigrants from the former Yugoslavia. The narrative flirts with the supernatural, drawing on vampire folklore rooted in Balkan mythology. But its uniqueness lies in one simple fact: the supernatural becomes real as the vampire queens at the heart of the story are actually ordinary women seeking justice and claiming power. These are women who choose to navigate their own destinies in ways that might seem irrational or even ridiculous, yet always with self-awareness. Embracing the power of self-irony, both the female protagonists and the creators of the series bring something we felt was lacking in the region: inviting audiences to laugh, reflect, and celebrate the complexities of the female existence through a specific kind of dark humour. Artistically, the series is a shout back to the 1990s. This retro approach runs through a variety of elements, such as the main character’s obsession with Jennifer Beals, the star of Flashdance. Once transformed, Miliana dresses, acts, tries to sing, and, yes, dances in that style. The 1990s-style video surveillance camera serves a double purpose: alongside its dramaturgical function, it imposes an aesthetic that will be reflected throughout the series. The contradiction between the overblown, luminous, shiny images and the blood and gore contributes to the very specific style the series will embrace, never forgetting that, ultimately, this is a vampire story. In terms of music and sound, we plan to use the same strategy – by embracing a very specific style of scoring, the pinnacle moments will be accentuated by a very deliberate and expressionistic use of music. This baroque-like treatment will further elevate the black humour and quirkiness that runs through the series.

Sonja Prosenc

CREATOR’S BIOGRAPHY

With films presented at the Venice, Tribeca, and Sarajevo Film Festivals, and the Berlin, Toronto, and Karlovy Vary International Film Festivals, filmmakers Teona Strugar Mitevska (Mother; God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya; The Happiest Man in the World) and Sonja Prosenc (Family Therapy; History of Love; The Tree) bring their cinematic voices to the world of series. Rooted in the ex-Yugoslav region and working internationally, the writer-directors offer an auteur-driven take on the cultural frictions and surreal absurdities of female existence. Little Yugoslavia was developed through the French CNC Going European programme and presented at Cinelink at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Labina Mitevska

PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY

Labina Mitevska is a producer, actor, and a co-founder of the North Macedonian production company Sisters and Brother Mitevski. For over twenty years, she has produced internationally acclaimed films that have premiered at festivals including the Festival de Cannes, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival. She is a member of the European Film Academy and received the 2024 Eurimages International Co-Production Award. Since 2022, she has also been part of the producing team at Belgium-based Entre Chien et Loup.

PRODUCER’S STATEMENT

We imagine Little Yugoslavia as a tour de force of storytelling to challenge and entertain viewers as well as to present an essential shift in the regionʼs TV industry by featuring a diverse group of acclaimed female directors. Our dedication to narratives centred around women goes beyond the screen, creating space for feminine perspectives and pushing the boundaries of storytelling. Every episode serves as evidence of the strength, resilience, and cleverness of women who choose to navigate their own destinies, at times in ways that might seem irrational or even ridiculous, yet always with self-awareness. Through the cunning use of dark humour, both the protagonists and the filmmakers infuse a refreshing authenticity into the series, inviting audiences to laugh, reflect, and celebrate the complexities of the human experience, as well as the power of the army of women the characters ultimately create.

Production company profile

Sisters and Brother Mitevski is an independent family-run production company based in North Macedonia, founded in 2001 by producer and actor Labina Mitevska, director Teona Strugar Mitevska, and artist Vuk Mitevski. For more than two decades, the company has produced or co-produced internationally acclaimed auteur films that have premiered at the world's leading festivals, including the Berlin, Karlovy Vary, and Toronto International Film Festivals, the Venice Film Festival, the Festival de Cannes, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Their productions include God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, which screened in the Competition at the Berlinale and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the LUX Prize, The Happiest Man in the World, which was selected for Venice and Toronto, When the Day Had No Name, and Mother, which was screened at Venice in 2025. The company has also established itself as a strong European co-production partner, collaborating with renowned filmmakers including Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Cristi Puiu, Damjan Kozole, Mathias Malzieu, and Pjer Žalica. Recent productions include Skateboarding Is Not for Girls by Dina Duma, Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska, and the stop-motion animation Old Man and the TV by Vuk Mitevski. Producer Labina Mitevska is a member of the European Film Academy, an EAVE national representative, a former EFP Producers on the Move participant, a recipient of the 2024 Eurimages International Co-Production Award, and, since 2022, part of the producing team at Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup.

Where are we at?

TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
30%

FINANCES PENDING
1,737,000 €

FINANCING IN PLACE
70%

Production timeline

2026 Script and bible preparation

2027 Putting the budget and FP together, working on the cast, scripts, locations

May 2028 Shooting

July - December 2028 Pst-production

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