Melanie M. Messina

Neda relocates from Croatia to New York City seeking financial and emotional stability. While navigating her new life in the metropolis, she maintains a complicated, distant relationship with her father, Jadranko, back home through late-night online chats. During these nocturnal browsing sessions, Neda stumbles upon a forgotten digital archive belonging to a 1990s cyberfeminist collective known as the Electronic Witches. The group—originally formed by activists during the Yugoslav Wars to teach women and queer individuals how to use early electronic bulletin boards (BBS networks) to bypass state censorship—quickly becomes an obsession for her. As Neda digs deeper into the virtual archive, her digital investigation spills into the physical world. Her quest to uncover the legacy of these wartime digital pioneers transforms into a personal journey of self-discovery, exploring themes of isolation, digital intimacy, and queer resilience without falling into tragic tropes.