Description
In Stip, 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.
About the director: Teona Strugar Mitevska was born in 1974 in an artistic family in Skopje, Macedonia. She started as a child actor, trained as a painter and a graphic designer and later studied at MFA program in film at the Tisch School of Arts, New York University. Film How I Killed a Saint is Teona’s first feature. Her next feature film, I Am from Titov Veles, received Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Sarajevo Film Festival and was selected for the 2007 Toronto International Film festival (Discovery section), 2008 Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama) and Cannes Film Festival (ACID).Feature film The Woman who Brushed off Her Tears premiered at 2012 Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama Special) and in 2013 Teona directed and edited film Teresa and I, a feature documentary about Mother Teresa. Feature film When the Day had No Name premiered in the Panorama Special of the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, while her latest feature film God Exists, her Name is Petrunya premiered in the Competition of the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival.