“Ljubljana,you are like velvet, what you give you also take, I give you my mind, a bouquet of thoughts, if you stay.”

The paper explores the significance, representation and role of the city of Ljubljana in three Slovenian films: Ljubljana (2002), My Last Year as a Loser (Ne bom več luzerka, 2018) and Bitch, a Derogatory Term for a Woman (Prasica, slabšalni izraz za žensko, 2021). Focusing on the younger generation transitioning from youth to adulthood, the paper examines the relationship to the city through Nicolas Hausdorf’s theory and his work Superstructural Berlin, A Superstructural Tourist Guide to Berlin for the Visitor and the New Resident and the application of his theory to Ljubljana in Ljubljana is Berlin. The analysis centres on five key themes: Ljubljana as a suburb; art and social relations in Ljubljana; drugs and nightlife in Ljubljana; Ljubljana as an illusion – touristification, gentrification, housing crisis; and Ljubljana and the brain drain.

The integral version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!