A powerful environmental and family documentary set in the rugged highlands of Montenegro, The Last Nomads by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić was presented as part of the Rough Cut sessions held at CPH:DOX 2025, marking the final production push ahead of its eventual premiere.
In detail, the 100-minute feature follows Gara and her niece Nada, two semi-nomadic women who rely on herding and foraging for medicinal herbs in the remote Sinjajevina mountains, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Their bond runs deep, and together they traverse meadows 2,000 metres above sea level, evoking a timeless, almost Biblical landscape.
The duo’s way of life is violently disrupted when the Montenegrin government announces plans—without local consultation—to establish an international military training ground in the area. With their ancestral land under threat, Gara leads a grassroots resistance against both the state and patriarchal structures, while preparing Nada to confront her traumatic past and embrace a future rooted in identity and resilience.
The project is the first international documentary feature to emerge from Montenegro and has taken five years to come to fruition. With over 200 shooting days at 2,000 metres altitude, it captures the rhythms of a vanishing world.
“We joined the local people in defending their land, life, and identity,” said co-director Glomazić. “This is the story I’ve dreamt of telling since my childhood.”
Glomazić, a debuting filmmaker and seasoned mountaineer, brings an insider’s perspective to the shepherd communities of Sinjajevina. “I’ve had the privilege to experience a place that remained untouched for millennia, almost like a way of life, that of shepherds living in vast highlands. There’s no electricity here, and water comes from springs. Wolves and eagles are neighbours, and women are the backbone of society,” he added. “This way of life, and the knowledge these people hold, is more vital now than ever before.”
Tutorov, an experienced producer, director, and writer known for women-driven, politically engaged stories such as Symphony Interrupted and When Pigs Come, said the project was first pitched at CPH:FORUM in 2022. Back then, the team also snagged the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award. “This Rough Cut screening marks our last major stop before release. We’re currently seeking strategic partners and final co-funders.”
The film is now in post-production and is produced by Serbia’s Wake Up Films, with co-production partners Ardor Films (Montenegro), Les Films de l’oeil sauvage (France), Cvinger Film (Slovenia), and Stenola (Belgium). The confirmed financial structure includes support from Eurimages (both development and co-production grants), CNC France (L’Aide à l’écriture, Cinéma du Monde), Catapult, Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Film Centre of Montenegro, Serbian Film Centre, South France Region PACA, SFC Slovenia, Viba Studio, HAVC – Croatian Audiovisual Centre, IDA Enterprise Grant, RTV Slovenia, InMaat, Belgium’s Tax Shelter scheme, among others.
The Last Nomads promises to be an urgent, poetic and visually stunning film that brings attention to the intertwined violence against women and nature, while spotlighting a fragile ecosystem and the fierce women fighting to preserve it.
