Ljubica Adžović

Ljubica Adžović (born – died 23 May 2006) was a Romani actress, known for her roles in Emir Kusturica's films: Time of the Gypsies, and Black Cat, White Cat (1998).

Early life Adžović was the daughter of Pašo Adžović and Rukija Adžović (née Selimović), a Roma couple who moved to Montenegro from Bosnia (then Yugoslavia). Pašo and Rukija led a nomadic lifestyle, and depending on the season and financial situation, they would relocate, pitching their tent across the country's coast. However, the birthplace is incorrect and her exact birth date is unknown.

In a 2018 interview with writer Željko Milović, Adžović's daughter Nada reported that her mother was born in Zupci (Bar) in 1930, emphasizing that the birthplace and date "Skopje, 1924" were false statements, which circulated from the time of the production of Black Cat, White Cat, since most Roma actors came from Skopje.

Although these accounts agree about her exact birthplace, they disagree about her birth date: while Adžović's daughter Nada claimed that her mother was born in 1930, Adžović herself stated in both VEN (1987) and Una (1989) magazines to be 60 years old, which implies that she might have been born between 1926 and 1929. Later that summer, the film crew traveled to locate her, ultimately finding Adžović in a vineyard in Suvi Potok, near Sutomore.

Later, in 1989 Adžović returned to her life in Bar and her original occupation as a fortune teller on the beaches of Sutomore. In 1999, however, Adžović was featured in the French press, seeking asylum in the Rhône region and citing death threats from the mafia as the reason for her flight.

Her whereabouts outside of Montenegro are however unclear: in a 2018 interview with writer Željko Milović, Adžović's daughter Nada denied these "fabricated newspaper stories", claiming that her mother was "traveling in France and elsewhere in Europe to visit her sons and daughter"; while in Sweden, she "fell gravely ill" and "returned to Zagrađe through Germany and France". Upon her death, Kusturica expressed profound sadness, noting that working with her on Time of the Gypsies and Black Cat, White Cat were among the most thrilling experiences of his career. This accusation was the result of an error by the Tanjug news agency, which had confused her with another person of the same name. The allegation was subsequently proven to be unfounded.