SYNOPSIS
In Štip, a small town in Macedonia, every January the local priest throws a wooden cross into the river and hundreds of men dive after it. Good fortune and prosperity are guaranteed to the man who retrieves it. This time, Petrunya dives into the water on a whim and manages to grab the cross before the others. Her competitors are furious - how dare a woman take part in their ritual? All hell breaks loose, but Petrunya holds her ground. She won her cross and will not give it up.
CAST & CREW
Teona Strugar Mitevska
Director
Producer(s)
Labina Mitevska
Script
Elma Tataragič, Teona Strugar Mitevska
Director of Photography
Virginie Saint-Martin
Production designer
Vuk Mitevski
Music by
Olivier Samouillan
Sound
Ingrid Simon, Thomas Gauder, Hrvoje Petek
Edit
Marie-Hélène Dozo
Cast
Zorica Nusheva, Labina Mitevska, Simeon Moni Damevski, Suad Begovski, Stefan Vujisic, Violeta Sapkovska
Production company(ies)
Sisters and Brother Mitevski (Macedonia) Entre chien et loup (Belgium) Vertigo (Slovenia), Spiritus Movens Production (Croatia) Deuxième Ligne Films (France) Ez Films (France)
Teona Strugar Mitevska
Teona Strugar Mitevska was born in an artistic family in Skopje, Macedonia. She lives in Brussels, Belgium. Teona started as a child actor, trained as a painter and a graphic designer and later studied at M.F.A Program in Film at the Tisch School of Arts, New York University. She made her debut as short film director with Veta (Special Jury Prize, Berlin IFF, 2002). How I Killed a Saint (Rotterdam IFF, 2004) is her first feature made under the auspices of Sisters and Brother Mitevski, a company she established together with her brother Vuk and sister Labina. I Am from Titov Veles, premiered at the 2007 Toronto IFF and was shown in Berlin IFF and Cannes IFF, 2008. The Woman Who Brushed off Her Tears premiered at 2012 Berlin IFF, and in 2013 she shot and edited Teresa and I, a feature documentary about Mother Teresa, her life and work through the perspective of a woman of today. When The Day Had No Name premiered at the 2017 Berlin IFF. God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya premiered in Berlin IFF, 2019.
Filmography
Veta (2001, short), How I Killed a Saint (2004), I Am from Titov Veles (2007), The Woman Who Brushed off Her Tears (2012), Teresa and I (2013, doc.), When the Day Had No Name (2017), God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (2018).
