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Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija

God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya
Competition 2019
© sistersandbrothermitevski
‘Tell them you’re 24’, advises Petrunya’s mother as her daughter heads off to another interview. But Petrunya is 31; moreover, she has studied history, a subject that no one in Macedonia seems to need. So there she sits in front of her potential employer, a factory owner, who looks down on her floral dress and refuses to take her seriously. On her way home – naturally, she did not get the job – Petrunya decides to take the plunge. It is Epiphany and, like every year, the young men of the city are diving for the holy cross that the priest has thrown into the icy river. This time, Petrunya is quicker than everyone else and ends up holding the trophy aloft for the TV cameras. For one whole day and one night, she will defend the cross, accompanied by much public commotion and against the closed ranks of the male world.
Teona Strugar Mitevska delivers an angry yet melancholic satire that questions the status of democratic change in Macedonian society and passes scathing judgement on representatives of the church, the judiciary and the media. The film’s sympathies are all with the determined woman who asserts herself against archaic traditions and paralysing opportunism.
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by Teona Strugar Mitevska
with Zorica Nusheva, Labina Mitevska, Simeon Moni Damevski, Suad Begovski, Violeta Shapkovska, Stefan Vujisic, Xhevdet Jasari, Andrijana Kolevska Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia / Croatia / France 2019 Macedonian 100’ Colour

With

  • Zorica Nusheva (Petrunya)
  • Labina Mitevska (Slavica)
  • Simeon Moni Damevski (Chief Inspector Milan)
  • Suad Begovski (Priest)
  • Violeta Shapkovska (Vaska)
  • Stefan Vujisic (Young Officer)
  • Xhevdet Jasari (Cameraman)
  • Andrijana Kolevska (Blagica)

Crew

Director Teona Strugar Mitevska
Screenplay Elma Tataragic, Teona Strugar Mitevska
Cinematography Virginie Saint Martin
Editing Marie-Hélène Dozo
Music Olivier Samouillan
Sound Design Ingrid Simon, Thomas Gauder
Sound Hrvoje Petek
Production Design Vuk Mitevski
Costumes Monika Lorber
Make-Up Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska
Assistant Director Jane Kortoshev
Casting Kirijana A. Nikolovska
Production Manager Elena Stanisheva
Producer Labina Mitevska
Co-Producers Sebastien Delloye, Danijel Hocevar, Zdenka Gold, Marie Dubas, Elie Meirovitz
Co-Production Entre Chien et Loup Brüssel
Vertigo Ljubljana
Spiritus Movens Production Zagreb
Deuxième Ligne Films Paris
EZ Films Paris

World sales

Pyramide International

http://www.pyramidefilms.com http://www.pyramidefilms.com

Produced by

Sisters and Brother Mitevski

Photos

Press Conference

Red Carpet

Teona Strugar Mitevska

Born in Skopje, Macedonia in 1974, she now lives there and in Brussels. Her first brush with film was as a child actor. She has a degree in graphic design and studied film at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. Her short film Veta screened in Panorama. Her feature film Jas sum od Titov Veles, which screened at over 80 festivals worldwide and won over 20 awards, as well as The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears and, most recently, When the Day Had no Name have all screened at the Berlinale. She runs the Sisters and Brother Mitevski production company with her siblings Vuk and Labina.

Filmography

1999 Why is Betty Boop Angry; short film 2000 Amer in Amerika; short film 2001 Veta; short film 2004 How I Killed a Saint 2008 Jas sum od Titov Veles (I Am from Titov Veles) 2012 Alerik · The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears 2017 When the Day Had no Name 2019 Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija (God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019