Balkan Sis

What We Carry: War Photographer Mark Milstein on Vukovar, Sarajevo, and the War That Never Really Leaves

AI and technology get a lot of bad press, so this week I wanted to share a story that softens some of that.

On June 17th, 1993, behind Sarajevo's main train station, photojournalist Mark Milstein photographed a young man moments after he was hit by sniper fire. A soldier ran through gunfire, pulled a door off its hinges, and with a passer-by carried the wounded man to safety. Thirty-three years later, a stranger found those photos online, used ChatGPT to trace them back to Mark, and messaged him on LinkedIn: "The man in these photos is my cousin. He is still alive, and he would like to speak with you."

Mark takes us from his grandparents' newsstand in Jersey City to a two-week holiday in 1991 that took him to Vukovar and turned into eleven years as a war photographer, covering more than 20 conflicts. He shares almost two years living with Dr. Nada Bojanić's family in Sarajevo, burning books to stay warm and singing by candlelight, along with "Maybe Airlines," nearly losing his foot near Karlovac, and the story behind his photograph of Admira and Boško.

This one is deeply personal for me. I was born in Bosnia, and I'm still trying to understand what the war did to me, my family and so many of us. This conversation is a piece of that puzzle.

Gentle note: this episode discusses war, death and trauma. Please listen when you're in a safe space, and reach out to someone you trust if it brings things up.

IN THIS EPISODE

• How a journalist about to be fired became a war photographer in Vukovar
• Getting stranded in Sarajevo with no ride out, no film and no plan
• Life under siege: the black market, burning books for warmth, and "the worst camping trip you were ever on"
• Living with Dr. Nada Bojanić's family and the dark humour that kept everyone human
• Nearly losing his foot in 1994, and walking again
• The story behind the photograph of Admira and Boško
• The LinkedIn message, and speaking with the soldier and the man who was shot, 33 years later
• How the war lives on in our families, from short tempers to the stories passed down to our children
• What the people of the former Yugoslavia taught him, and his one word for them: thank you

STANDOUT QUOTES
"The camera is the tool, but my ultimate job is as an educator."
"That protection sits between this ear and that ear."
"I have to only say one word to people who I came into contact with: thank you. Because without you, I wouldn't be who I am."

ABOUT MARK
Mark Milstein is an American photojournalist who has worked in more than 60 countries, covering over 20 conflicts from 1991 to 2000, including more than four years in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek and The New York Times. He later founded Red Dot and Northfoto, and today works at the intersection of photography and AI.

CONNECT WITH MARK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictphotos/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-milstein-60aba53/
Sarajevo photos: https://www.sniperalley.photo/photographers/mark-h-milstein.html
If you think you or your family appear in his photos, please reach out to him.

CONNECT WITH IVANA & BALKAN SIS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivanastrbacalfonso/
Balkan Sis: https://www.instagram.com/balkansispodcast/

This episode is dedicated to everyone who made it through, and in memory of all those who didn't.

If this one moved you, please share it with a Balkan sister or brother, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more of us find each other.

"Be Strong": The Lie Every Diaspora Kid Was Raised On | Growing Up Balkan with Frankie

What was it really like growing up in the Balkans in the '80s and '90s? In this flashback episode, recorded in 2022, I sit down with my OG Balkan Sis and best friend since primary school, Frankie, to go back to where it all began: how we were raised, and how that childhood still shows up in who we are today.

Frankie takes us from Trogir and Sarajevo to fleeing at the start of the war, then Zagreb, Australia and back again. She walked herself to kindergarten at five, and at her First Communion her mum (determined she'd "be different") sent her out in a white dress, a buzz cut and bright orange shoes. I share my village childhood in Bosnia: grandparents upstairs, homemade everything, all the kids crammed in one room while the adults ate, and a whole village with permission to raise (and discipline) you.

We laugh, we cringe, and we get honest about the harder parts too: strict parenting, zero communication, double standards between girls and boys, parents parenting from survival mode, and why so many of us carry complicated family relationships into adulthood.

Before we jump in, I share a little catch-up: a hectic few months, the podcasts I've been a guest on, why your story is worth sharing even when it feels scary, and what's next, including my book, At Baba and Dida's House.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why your story is worth sharing
• Fleeing at the start of the war and being held at the border for three days
• Walking alone to kindergarten at five
• The First Communion photo: buzz cut, braces, white dress and orange shoes
• A mum who said "you don't have to get married or have kids"
• Nonna making you "hold the figa" on the way to church
• Playing outside until someone yelled "Ručak!" from the balcony
• Kids shut in one room while the adults socialised, then eating the leftovers
• Kids as their parents' "postcard," and a village where anyone could tell you off
• Double standards between how girls and boys were raised
• How the war froze progress, and parents parenting from trauma
• "Do as I say, not as I do"
• Becoming expert people-readers as kids
• Why "being strong" costs us later in life
• What we're keeping from our culture, and what we're leaving behind

STANDOUT QUOTES
"You were your parents' representation. If you misbehaved in the community, you looked bad on your parents."
"Being strong is viewed as this amazing thing, but you pay for it later on in life."
"We're taking bits we like and leaving things we don't like, because we have the bravery to do that now."

ABOUT FRANKIE
Frankie is my best friend since primary school and a much-loved returning voice on Balkan Sis. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, where she runs Equilibrium Yoga Hub, a holistic studio offering yoga, Pilates, prenatal and postpartum programs, meditation, breathwork and sound baths, mostly as live virtual classes.

CONNECT WITH FRANKIE
Instagram: @eyogahub
Website: https://www.eyogahub.com
All links: https://linktr.ee/eyogahub

LISTEN TO ME ON REALNO SA DRITOM HAZIRAJ (in Croatian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-g6plxWEZg

CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram: @ivanastrbacalfonso
Balkan Sis: @balkansispodcast

Got a hilarious (or slightly traumatic) Balkan childhood moment? Jump into the DMs at @balkansispodcast and tell us. If this one took you back, send it to your Balkan sister or cousin who'll get it, and leave a review. It genuinely helps more of us find each other.

Pt. 2: "We'll Talk About Our Dreams, Never Our Feelings"Verone Percuku on Her Thesis, Sleep Hygiene, and Why the Balkans Fear Therapy

Part two with Verone goes deeper into her actual thesis, Psychological and Cultural Dimensions of Dreams in the Balkans, why she chose the region, what the small Kosovo-based sample revealed, and why she's careful never to overclaim from a study this size. The dominant themes that came through were control, helplessness and social disorder rather than individual anxiety.

We widen out into something every Balkan household will recognise, why people will happily chat about a strange dream over coffee, but the second you mention therapy, it's treated like an admission of being "crazy." Verone breaks down the stigma still sitting over mental health in Kosovo, why dreams feel safe to talk about and feelings don't.

We also get practical: sleep hygiene, screen time, imagery rehearsal, and simple tools for remembering your dreams without needing a psychology degree. I share my mum's story of waking at 4am every morning for years without knowing why, until therapy connected it back to the exact time she fled during the war, and Verone unpacks what's actually happening there without romanticising "the body keeps the score." We close on where this research goes next, what her parents make of it all, and what she wants listeners to walk away with.

• ​Why Verone chose the Balkans for her thesis, sparked by a breakfast conversation with researchers from Serbia
• ​Limitations of a small, mostly Kosovo-based sample, and why she avoids overclaiming from it
• ​Dominant themes in the data: control, helplessness and social disorder, not individual anxiety
• ​Why so many participants dropped off just trying to remember and log their dreams
• ​Ivana's mum waking at 4am for years, and how therapy linked it to the exact time the family fled during the war
• ​Why "the body keeps the score" is a good starting point but not the full picture
• ​How ongoing hardship and financial stress shape dreaming, not just single traumatic events
• ​Practical tools for better sleep and dream recall: journaling, voice notes, imagery rehearsal, less screen time before bed
• ​Why some people struggle to fall asleep at all, and why sleep issues deserve individual, professional attention
• ​Why people will talk about a strange dream over coffee, but therapy still carries deep stigma
• ​The disconnect between being open about dreams and resistant to talking about feelings directly
• ​What her parents made of her research, and explaining that psychology wasn't going to look like a private clinic
• ​Where she sees this work going next, and her hopes for mental health in Kosovo
• ​What she wants listeners to take away: get curious about your inner world, and don't fear an unconventional path

"The body's not a second brain, there are no footage of memories being stored in our body."

"People are more willing to say 'I saw a bad dream' than to say 'I need to talk about my feelings,' because the dream feels unrelated to reality."

Verone Percuku is a Clinical and Community Psychology graduate from the University of Prishtina, born in Vushtrri, Kosovo. She's worked across mental health, education and civil society in Kosovo, including as Mental Health Projects Manager and later Vice Director at the Centre for Psycho-Social and Medical Research, and as an Educational Psychologist at BONEVET Prishtina. Her Master's thesis, Psychological and Cultural Dimensions of Dreams in the Balkans, explored dream content, personality, culture and history across the region.

• ​Instagram: instagram.com/verone.percuku
• ​Facebook: facebook.com/veronepercuku
• ​LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/veronë-perçuku

Referenced in This Episode

• Imagery Rehearsal Therapy: verywellmind.com/imagery-rehearsal-therapy-2797304

• Dr. Nancy McWilliams: nancymcwilliams.com

If Part 1 and 2 hit home, share them with a Balkan sister who needs to hear it, and leave a review, it genuinely helps more of us find each other.

Pt. 1: “I Dreamt a War I Never Lived”

The Dreams You Inherit: Verone Percuku on Growing Up After Kosovo’s War

Episode Description

This week I sit down with Verone Percuku, a Clinical and Community Psychology graduate from the University of Prishtina. Verone was born in Vushtrri, Kosovo in 2000, just after the war ended, the youngest of four. She used to dream about the war, soldiers in the backyard, fighting in places she knew, despite having no memory of living through it at all.

We start with little Verone, growing up in a house where her father, an Albanian teacher, never asked about her grades, and her mother, only ever allowed eight years of schooling herself, made education a mission for her kids. We talk about post-war Kosovo, a city with barely any electricity, and an atmosphere of ambition tangled with fear she says she inherited as emotion, not memory.

Then we get into the dreams themselves. Why her brain built entire war scenes from newspapers and overheard conversations, why those dreams never scared her, and why in our culture the only dreams anyone shares are about death or teeth falling out, never the beautiful ones. I share a couple of my own too, including the dream I had about my brother the night before his accident. Verone breaks down what’s happening in the brain during REM sleep, and where science draws the line on what the rest of us call a premonition.

In This Episode

• Growing up in Vushtrri, Kosovo, as the youngest of four
• Her father the teacher who never asked about grades, her mother who made education a mission
• Life in post-war Kosovo: no electricity, tight community, ambition tangled with fear
• Inheriting emotion without inheriting memory
• Repression as the coping pattern of a generation without the tools to process what they carried
• Ivana’s parents’ trauma resurfacing after a house fire, and why trauma just “parks itself”
• The war dreams: soldiers in the backyard, built from newspapers and overheard conversations
• Why those dreams fascinated her instead of scaring her
• Wanting to study psychology from age 12, before connecting it back to the dreams
• The cultural rule on which dreams are safe to share, and why nobody mentions the good ones
• Ivana’s premonition dream about her brother, and her mum’s dream of her late brother
• What’s happening in the brain during REM sleep, and why we remember some dreams and lose others
• Where science draws the line on premonitions, and holding room for both curiosity and evidence

Standout Quotes

“We don’t get to inherit a footage of other people’s memories. But we do get to inherit the way they approach life, and the atmosphere that creates.”

“I have no memory of the war, but my brain was picking up pieces from the movies I was watching, the news, and all the conversations we had about it.”

About Verone Percuku

Verone Percuku is a Clinical and Community Psychology graduate from the University of Prishtina, born in Vushtrri, Kosovo. She’s worked across mental health, education and civil society in Kosovo, including as Mental Health Projects Manager and later Vice Director at the Centre for Psycho-Social and Medical Research, and as an Educational Psychologist at BONEVET Prishtina. Her Master’s thesis, Psychological and Cultural Dimensions of Dreams in the Balkans, explored dream content, personality, culture and history across the region.

Referenced in This Episode

• Imagery Rehearsal Therapy: verywellmind.com/imagery-rehearsal-therapy-2797304
• Dr. Nancy McWilliams: nancymcwilliams.com

Where to Find Verone

• Instagram: instagram.com/verone.percuku
• Facebook: facebook.com/veronepercuku
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/veronë-perçuku

Follow Balkan Sis

Part 2 with Verone drops soon. If this hit home, share it with a Balkan sister who needs to hear it, and leave a review, it genuinely helps more of us find each other.

This is a flashback episode — one close to my heart — with the OG Balkan Sis, Frankie, the friend who started Balkan Sis with me back when it was just the two of us. We talk about something every Balkan woman knows intimately: body shaming, the obsession with being skinny, and the "feedback" that comes with simply existing in — or being from — the Balkans.

It kicks off with my own story: fresh from a funeral, in a dress I felt genuinely good in, asked twice within two hours whether I was pregnant. From there we get into the "jesi smršavela / jesi se udebljala" comments people fire off before they've even said hello, the double standard in how men's and women's bodies get talked about, why Balkan culture treats a woman's body like public property, and the patriarchy behind it. We talk about the moment I finally started clapping back instead of absorbing it, a run-in with a family friend who commented on my body while his own son sat downstairs, and why "well-meaning" comments land harder than people realize.

Then it widens out: how the Balkan mentality boxes women in (skinny = good, overweight = lazy), what it's like building a business — like Frankie's yoga practice, Equilibrium Yoga Hub — in a culture that measures worth by doctor/lawyer/teacher, the pressure to have kids by a certain age, and why the diaspora can't outrun their culture no matter how hard they try. We close with five things we each love about Western culture, five about Balkan culture, and our book and podcast recs.

IN THIS EPISODE• My funeral story: asked twice in two hours if I was pregnant• Why "did you lose/gain weight" is basically a Balkan greeting• Australia vs. the Balkans — the questions that come from near-strangers• Where it comes from: patriarchy, and skinny = good, overweight = lazy• The auntie I hadn't seen in 10 years, and "you gained weight" mid-hug• Learning to respond instead of absorb• The family friend who commented on my weight while his son sat downstairs• Why male bodies get celebrated while female bodies get scrutinized• Postpartum, miscarriage, infertility — not knowing what's behind a question• Owning the dumb things we've both said to other women in the past• Being unmarried/childless in your mid-30s and getting "categorised"• Frankie's yoga business and building something non-traditional in the Balkans• 5 things we love about Western vs. Balkan culture• Book & podcast recs: Women's Bodies Women's Wisdom, Conversations with God, Light Is the New Black, Untamed, Hold On to Your Kids, Motherkind, Dua Lipa: At Your Service

QUOTES"Who cares? It's none of your business.""That's not something you say to a woman.""If you don't like my stomach, that's your problem. I'm a girl, I can't have a stomach?""Every time we say something like that, we're actually betraying ourselves." — Frankie

ABOUT FRANKIE & EQUILIBRIUM YOGA HUBFrankie and I met in primary school in Australia 25+ years ago; she moved back to Zagreb to start her own family. She now runs Equilibrium Yoga Hub (eYoga Hub) in Zagreb — yoga, Pilates/yogilates, prenatal & postpartum programs, meditation & breathwork, sound baths & sound massage, cacao ceremonies, energy treatments, workshops & events. A supportive, community-first space for mind, spirit and body.

Website: eyogahub.comTimetable: eyogahub.com/studioyogaSound healing: eyogahub.com/sound-massageEvents: eyogahub.com/eventsBlog: eyogahub.com/blogYouTube: youtube.com/@eyogahubInstagram: @eyogahubFacebook: facebook.com/1618966898429013All links: linktr.ee/eyogahub

FIND ME / BALKAN SISInstagram: @ivanastrbacalfonsoFacebook / Twitter / LinkedIn: search "Ivana Strbac Alfonso"Balkan Sis on Facebook: @balkansispodcast

If this one hit home, send it to a Balkan sister who needs to hear it, and leave a review — it helps more of us find each other.

This week on Balkan Sis, I sit down with Drita Haziraj — a woman who has lived about five lifetimes in one. Drita survived the siege of Sarajevo as a teenager, spent decades as a radio and TV journalist in Bosnia (Radio Free Europe, Radio Stari Grad, Radio FERN, Radio BiH), and in 2004 created and hosted Naša Realnost (Our Reality), a humanitarian TV show that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for families in need. She rebuilt her life from scratch in the US as a single mother of two, became a licensed Illinois real estate broker, and now hosts her own podcast, Realno with Drita Haziraj.

We go back to little Drita growing up in Pale, outside Sarajevo, before the war changed everything, and into what four years under siege actually looked like as a teenager — no electricity, rationed food, snipers, and becoming the person who kept her family fed and safe. She talks about finding her voice by calling into a local radio station during the war to read her own poetry, breaking into a career that was very much a boys' club, and the story that pushed her from radio into television. We talk about how Naša Realnost grew into something far bigger than she planned, and the hard moments that eventually pushed her to leave everything and start again in America — three jobs, thirteen rented homes, and the pride of finally signing the loan on a home that was hers. It's a conversation about war, motherhood, reinvention, and what "realno" — real — actually means.

In This Episode

• Growing up in Pale before the war, and being the self-described "rebel" of the family
• Surviving four years under siege as a teenager, and becoming her family's lifeline
• Wanting to study theology, being turned away for being Muslim, and finding journalism instead
• Reading wartime poetry on local radio, and breaking into a career that was a boys' club
• The story that shifted her from radio into television
• How Naša Realnost grew into one of Bosnia's most recognised humanitarian TV shows
• Touring Australia and raising over $100,000 AUD for families back home
• Losing her mother, and leaving Bosnia to start over in the US as a single mother of two
• Working three jobs, getting her real estate license, and signing the loan on her first home
• Her sons' very different experiences adjusting to America
• Launching Realno with Drita Haziraj, and wanting women to support each other's work

Standout Quotes"War taught me to be so grateful for everything. I wouldn't change that experience, because now I can compare what I had, or didn't have, to how blessed I am.""For an immigrant, buying a home isn't really about the property. It's about the process — that you even get the chance to apply.""When you're a journalist, you're a journalist your whole life. You bring that into everything you do."

About Drita HazirajDrita survived the siege of Sarajevo as a teenager, spent decades as a radio and TV journalist in Bosnia, and in 2004 created Naša Realnost (Our Reality), a humanitarian TV program. She rebuilt her life in the US as a single mother of two, became a licensed Illinois real estate broker, and now hosts Realno with Drita Haziraj.

Where to Find DritaRealno Podcast: realnopodcast.com, and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and YouTube

(search "Realno sa Dritom Haziraj").

Instagram: @dritadidahazirajReal estate: Chase Real Estate, Naperville IL (chasebroker.com)Charity: Naša Realnost / Our Reality (ourreality-nasarealnostnfp.godaddysites.com)Support the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/realnopodcast/membership

Today's guest is a scientist and a mum who got sick of the same thing most of us have felt scrolling parenting Instagram at 2am. Everyone with an opinion, nobody with a source. Violeta Gordeljevic, parenting science expert, spent years working in public health for governments and global organisations before she had her own baby and realised nobody was translating any of that research for parents. So she built The Parenting Class herself, now reaching over 330,000 people who come to her for one thing, actual evidence.

We go right back to little Violeta, born in Bosnia, two years old when her family left in 1992 to join her father in Germany, where he'd been working as a coal miner. We talk about growing up shy and sensitive in a tight multicultural community, becoming the nerdy teenager who discovered the library and never left, and the moment Sunday school turned her into a lifelong questioner of everything, including the old wives' tales her own mother swore by.

From there we follow her into public health, into a decade working on environmental health policy across seven or eight countries, into meeting her Indonesian partner, and into the shower in her Berlin apartment where the idea for The Parenting Class was born while her newborn slept on the couch. We get into the real, unfiltered version of building a business while raising two kids, and why she moved her whole family to Indonesia to make sure her children grow up connected to both sides of their heritage.

We talk temperament, and why there's no such thing as a good baby or a bad baby. We talk screens, and the real difference between a curated cartoon and handing a toddler an algorithm. We talk about the wildly different parenting cultures she's lived inside, hands off playgrounds in Germany versus hovering in Australia versus a village of aunties, and how she's learned to trust her own values over whichever culture she's standing in.

In this episode:

• Little Violeta, born in Bosnia, raised in Germany from age two
• The moment questioning the Bible in Sunday school got her called a non-believer
• Studying business first, then finding her real passion in public health
• The Berlin shower where The Parenting Class was born
• Building 160 videos and 15 hours of content over five years
• Temperament, and why the same approach can fail completely on a different kid
• Moving to Indonesia to connect her kids to their father's heritage
• Raising two kids across English, Serbian, German and Indonesian
• Schooling in Germany versus Jakarta
• Playground culture across three countries
• Screens, algorithms, and the one rule to set on day one
• The permission slip she'd give every mum listening

Find Violeta Gordeljevic at @violeta.parenting.science and www.theparentingscience.com.

Find Ivana Strbac Alfonso and Balkan Sis at @balkansispodcast, or [email protected].

Until next time, this has been Balkan Sis. Love, Ivana.

What Will People Think?I get real about the pressure of being judged, why I nearly skipped recording this episode, and how that inner doubt connects to community, identity, and showing up anyway. I also answer listener questions about navigating Balkan identity, cultural expectations, and staying true to yourself in a Western environment.In this episode, I share why I'm doubling down on the Balkan Sis community, what it means to protect a space that isn't for everyone, and how women carry the weight of being seen, heard, and often criticised. I tie it all back to strength, honesty, and choosing growth through discomfort.KEY TOPICS- I open up about being in a strange in-between season and feeling mentally and emotionally stretched thin.- I name the episode around the recurring fear of judgment — "What are people gonna think?"- I explain how Balkan Sis started as a friendship project and evolved into a broader community.- I address criticism around the word "Balkan" and why I refuse to rebrand just to make others comfortable.- I make the case that behind every podcast, brand, and product is a real person and a real family.- I argue that women, especially mothers and creative women, are still not celebrated enough in society.- I share how community feedback shaped my plans for a membership space and a larger online meetup.- I read listener questions about identity, belonging, fear of being seen, and building something new while staying connected to roots.- I respond to a question about being a Croatian woman in Australia and how culture, gender, and geography affect communication style.- I reflect on generational pain, migration, war, and why I want my children to have more ease, joy, and safety than I did.- I emphasize that discomfort is often the doorway to growth and that avoiding hard conversations only makes things worse.- I close with a message of honesty, inner peace, and turning inward when the world feels chaotic.TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Feeling stuck in an in-between season01:28 - Why "What will people think?" became the episode theme03:18 - Remembering there are real people behind every public project04:16 - How Balkan Sis began as a friendship podcast05:58 - Why women and mothers are still under-celebrated07:34 - Refusing to rebrand despite criticism and pushback08:56 - Intent matters more than labels or branding09:22 - The toll of being the default parent during a hard month12:08 - Listener questions and the fear of being seen13:25 - Strength as a response to self-doubt and fear15:08 - Building a membership space and community-led conversations17:08 - What women want to talk about: identity, belonging, business, and conditioning19:20 - Why discomfort and hard conversations create change21:10 - A listener question on Croatian identity in a Western culture23:35 - How migration, age, gender, and location shape communication style28:20 - War, displacement, and generational pain in the Balkan region29:12 - Wanting children to have more joy than previous generations34:18 - Returning to the inner temple and protecting your peace37:09 - Re-airing past podcast stories and upcoming guest appearances39:54 - Coaching, coaching themes, and supporting Balkan women more deeply42:09 - Upcoming guests and what the next phase of the show looks like43:34 - Turning inward when the world feels chaotic

WORK WITH MEIf any of this hit home, if you're the woman quietly asking "what will people think" before you even start, carrying too much, or trying to build something new while staying rooted in who you are, this is exactly the work I do one-on-one. I coach Balkan women through fear of being seen, doing hard things scared, and choosing growth over comfort. If you're ready to stop waiting for permission, reach out and let's talk about working together.CONNECT WITH MEInstagram: @balkansispodcast (podcast + community) and

@ivanastrbacalfonso Coaching inquiries: [email protected]

PT 2: KATRINA RISTESKA — MILENA IN GIA: A WOG CHICK COMEDY, MOTHERHOOD, AND MAKING IT AS A STAR

Part two of our Gia special brings us face to face with Katrina Risteska, the actress bringing Milena Petrovski to chaotic, big hearted life. Katrina's been on our screens for over fifteen years, starting in musical theatre at seven years old in shows like Annie, The Wizard of Oz and Oliver at Sydney's Lyric Theatre, performing alongside names like Bert Newton, Anthony Warlow and Pamela Rabe. At eighteen she became the youngest ever competitor on So You Think You Can Dance Australia, placing in the top 3 females as the last commercial/hip hop dancer standing, and went on to dance for Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Kelly Clarkson and Jimmy Barnes.

She moved into film at sixteen with her first lead role in The Combination, and has since built a career across Home and Away, Dance Academy, Skinford: Death Sentence, Chasing Comets, and the Netflix hit Occupation Rainfall, starring alongside Ken Jeong, Temuera Morrison, Daniel Gillies and Jason Isaacs, a film big enough to land her on billboards along Sunset and Wilshire Boulevard. After five years focused fully on acting, she's recently stepped back into music, releasing new material under her own name, including her single "Bad Way." And somewhere in between all of that, she became a mum to a gorgeous four year old daughter.

We go back to little Katrina first, then into her career as a dancer, singer and actor, what drew her to Milena, what it actually feels like to play a woman as bold and loud as her, how motherhood has changed her ambitions, and what's next.

We talk about:

• little Katrina, growing up, and when performing took over
• her SYTYCD run, dancing for some of the biggest names in music, and her comeback to music under her own name
• her acting range, from Anna in The Combination to Chloe in Occupation to Suarez in Occupation Rainfall
• what drew her to Milena, and how she plays a character that big without turning her into a punchline
• what it actually feels like to play someone as bold and loud as Milena, and how the world tends to perceive women like her in real life
• how becoming a mum has changed or altered her ambitions, what she's chasing harder and what she's let go of
• the chaos of filming the Feet to Eat scene with the cherries
• what's next for her, beyond Gia
• a quickfire round on dance, acting, singing, tulumbi, and everything in between

This one's for anyone who's ever had a best friend who talks you into something you immediately regret, and loved them anyway.

Gia: A Wog Chick Comedy — official links

• Website: https://www.giaseries.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/giatheseries
• Facebook: facebook.com/giatheseries
• Donate / support the project: https://buy.stripe.com/aFabJ3cyvdbM8D1fuW7kc02
• General contact: [email protected]

Follow Katrina

• Instagram: instagram.com/katristeska
• Facebook: facebook.com/kat.risteska

A huge thank you to Meraki Entertainment for supporting both episodes of this two-part special. Meraki: https://merakientertainment.com.au

If you enjoyed this episode, please give us five stars and rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it genuinely helps the show reach more people.

Follow Balkan Sis

• Facebook: facebook.com/BalkanSis
• Instagram: instagram.com/balkansispodcast

Follow Ivana

• Instagram: instagram.com/ivanastrbacalfonso
• Facebook: facebook.com/ivanastrbacalfonso
• TikTok: tiktok.com/@ivanastrbacalfonso

EPISODE ONE — Nicole Stojanovska on Creating Gia: A Wog Chick Comedy

This week on Balkan Sis, I'm sitting down with Nicole Stojanovska, the Horsley-raised, Macedonian and Italian filmmaker behind Gia: A Wog Chick Comedy, a nine-episode comedy web series putting wog women at the centre of the story for the first time in decades. Made under her production company Parthenope Pictures, Gia follows Gia Granato, a sardonic, Sartre-quoting bookworm forced back in with her old-school Italian parents after her marriage falls apart.

We go back to little Nicole first, then into the story behind Gia, the characters, why wog comedy has been such a boys' club for so long, her Portuguese boyfriend, her Michael Jackson addiction, and what it actually takes to follow a creative passion this far.

Gia: A Wog Chick Comedy — official links

• Website: https://www.giaseries.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/giatheseries
• Facebook: facebook.com/giatheseries
• Donate / support the project: https://buy.stripe.com/aFabJ3cyvdbM8D1fuW7kc02
• General contact: [email protected]

Nicole's other work

• The Things We Bury (writer/producer, with director Nuno Dias) — Winner, Best Film, Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival 2026. Watch: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thethingswebury/1130390452
• YOUTH — short film, 2024 Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition
• Production company: Parthenope Pictures

A huge thank you to Meraki Entertainment for supporting both episodes of this two-part special. Meraki: https://merakientertainment.com.au

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