Skateboarding Is Not for Girls

Kızlar Kaykay Yapmaz / Skejtanjeto ne e za Devojchinja

DCP / Color / 82’
Macedonian with Turkish and English Subtitles
North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026

Director: Dina Duma
Screenplay: Dina Duma, Lidija Mojsovska, Teona Strugar Mitevska
Cinematography: Frédéric Noirhomme
Editing: Alain Dessauvage, Pierpaolo Filomeno
Cast: Efkjar Abaz, Džefrina Jašari, Simonida Selimović, Ganimet Abdula, Resmia Mustafa, Bajramsha Amdijevska, Emili Bajram, Jana Gjorgieva, Elmedin Sakip, Labina Mitevska, Bajram Severdzan, Ljiljana Bogojević, Sonja Mihajlova, Nikola Kumev
Producer: Labina Mitevska, Sébastien Delloye, Danijel Hočevar, Vanja Sremac
Production: Sisters and Brother Mitevski, Entre Chien et Loup, Vertigo, Beside Productions
World Sales: Kinology

Synopsis

Winning the Nora Ephron Award at its world premiere at the New York Tribeca Film Festival, Skateboarding Is Not for Girls is a critique of a system that views women as commodities and enslaves them by stripping away their economic freedom. Directed by Dina Duma, whose film Sisterhood was previously screened at the 16th Crime and Punishment Film Festival, this movie has been selected as North Macedonia’s Oscar entry. Duma uses a young girl’s effort to skateboard and join the skateboarding subculture—which is presented as a domain exclusive to boys—as a metaphor for emancipation. Eleven-year-old Adela (Efkjar Abase) dreams of winning a competition by skateboarding, thereby supporting her mother Esma (Simonida Selimovic) and older sister Zara (Džefrina Jašari), who were left penniless by her father after he abandoned the family. Adela represents both the fairytale-like aspect of the film, filled with inevitable clichés and humour, and the rebellion against the patriarchal order. Left with nothing but a battered Yugo car from the communist era, Esma seeks help from her sister-in-law Aida (Ganimet Abdula), who proposes marrying Zara off to the son of a wealthy Romani family in Bulgaria. When Esma becomes completely desperate, they all head down the path to a “bride market” where young girls are put on display, despite Adela’s objections! Emphasizing this unjust tradition that still persists in the Balkans, Dina Duma takes great care not to demonize any of her characters, who already come from an oppressed ethnicity. She elevates a conventional cinematic approach with poetic imagery, robust directing, humour, and the authentic performances of her mostly amateur cast.

Screenings