God exists, her name is Petrunya

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Movie
German title God exists, her name is Petrunya
Original title Gospod postoi, imeto i 'e Petrunija,
Господ постои, името ѝ е Петрунија
MJK 34334 God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija (Berlinale 2019) .jpg
Country of production North Macedonia , Belgium , Slovenia , Croatia , France
original language Macedonian
Publishing year 2019
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Teona Strugar Mitevska
script Elma Tataragic ,
Teona Strugar Mitevska
production Labina Mitevska
music Olivier Samouillan
camera Virginie Saint Martin
cut Marie-Hélène Dozo
occupation

God exists, her name is Petrunya (original title Gospod postoi, imeto i 'e Petrunija , English-language festival title: God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya ) is a feature film by Teona Strugar Mitevska from 2019 . The social satire is about the unemployed, frustrated Macedonian Petrunija (portrayed by Zorica Nusheva ), who as a woman illegally intervenes in a religious procession reserved for men.

The premiere of the film took place on February 10, 2019 in the competition at the 69th Berlinale .

action

The North Macedonian city of Štip , in the present: the overweight Petrunija is 32 years old and still lives with her parents Vaska and Stojan. She has successfully completed a history degree, but cannot find a job with it. After a degrading and unsuccessful job interview in a textile factory, Petrunija happens to encounter a holy procession - the men of the city are on their way to the river, where a priest throws a holy cross from a bridge, as every year on Epiphany . Whoever finds the cross first is said to be lucky all year round. Out of an animal instinct, Petrunija jumps fully dressed into the cold water and is the first to reach the small wooden cross. The men steal the lucky charm from her, contrary to the protests of the priest Kosta, who insists on the return to Petrunija. But Petrunija manages to get the cross back and flee home.

Petrunija is soon wanted by the police, as the church canon only allows men to take part. Petrunija's action was also recorded by TV cameras and eyewitnesses and soon found its way onto television and video portals on the Internet. While her friend Blagica praises her and her father tolerates the action, Petrunija learns resistance from her conservative and religious mother, who casts her out of anger and calls the police. There is a violent argument between the two, before Petrunija is arrested by the police and taken to the station. The archbishop is angry with rage and accuses Petrunija of blasphemous behavior. By participating, she defiled tradition. The priest Kosta could solve the situation with a lie, but he refuses to initiate proceedings against Petrunija. She should voluntarily return the cross. Petrunija is self-confident and stubborn during interrogation, even when she is verbally put under pressure by the police and the judiciary.

The television journalist Slavica, who suffered from family problems and reported on the procession, sees a top story in the processes and starts to research Petrunija. At the same time, a horde of men gathers in front of the police station, demanding the surrender of the cross. Petrunija is attacked by the men when she is released and dragged back to the police station for security reasons. She tenderly forges bonds with the young and understanding policeman Darko. Despite the intervention of the priest, the situation escalates in front of the guard. The police chief takes the cross from Petrunija and locks it in the safe. At the same time, a young man who sees himself as the real winner of the procession is arrested. He insults and spits on Petrunija, who believes that she has turned into a "wolf" today. Discussions on the station with Slavica, her incomprehensible mother, the priest or a public prosecutor lead to no result. In the end, Petrunija was allowed to keep the cross, despite insults from the men, but gave it back to the priest, because she said she no longer needed it. While Slavica compares the conditions in North Macedonia with those of the Middle Ages in front of the camera, Petrunija leaves the police station. She plans to keep in touch with Darko.

History of origin

The script of the film by director Teona Strugar Mitevska and screenwriter Elma Tataragić is based on real events. The procession with the Holy Cross takes place annually on January 19th in Orthodox communities in Eastern Europe. In 2014, contrary to tradition, a woman in the east Macedonian city of Štip caught the cross. Despite protests from the local population and the church, she refused to return it. A day later, the woman gave an interview on local television in which she encouraged other women to also catch the cross in the future. However, she was viewed by the local population as “mentally confused” and “burdened with problems”. The woman is said to have moved to London later , while 18-year-old Jovana Leposavić from Belgrade caught the cross in Zemun in 2019 . Leposavić had previously survived cancer. She dedicated the victory to her friends suffering from cancer and was celebrated by the population.

Frustrated by the reactions from 2014 and the patriarchal society, Mitevska and Tataragić began writing the film, which the director sees as a feminist work. Both disagreed on whether Petrunija should have a strong personality from the start, similar to the figure of the journalist Slavica, or whether her strength should only develop in the course of the story. Both ultimately decided on the latter option.

For the title role, Mitevska selected the stage actress Zorica Nusheva , who also made her film debut with Gospod postoi, imeto i 'e Petrunija . Nusheva had previously been on stage in Skopje mainly in comedic plays . Mitevska himself says he prefers to hire comedic performers, as they would have an impeccable understanding of rhythm and timing. For the part of Petrunija she was looking for an actress who would exude a calm and persistent strength.

reception

At the premiere, Gospod postoi, imeto i 'e Petrunija received 2.9 out of four possible stars in the international review of the British trade magazine Screen International and thus took 3rd place among all 16 Berlinale competition films , behind Emin Alpers A Story of Three Sisters and Nadav Lapid's Synonymes (3.0 each) who topped the ranking.

Awards

Awarding of the LUX film prize of the European Parliament (2019)

With Gospod postoi, imeto i 'e Petrunija , Teona Strugar Mitevska competed for the first time at the Berlin International Film Festival for the Golden Bear , the main prize of the festival. There the film was awarded the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Gilde Film Prize.

The film was nominated as one of three finalists at the LUX film prize of the European Parliament and won.

At the Five Lakes Film Festival , the film was awarded the Five Lakes Film Prize.

Web links

Commons : God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for God exists, her name is Petrunya . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 194858 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. a b English language press release for the film, p. 3 (PDF file; 718 KB).
  3. a b c English language press booklet for the film, p. 4 (PDF file; 718 KB).
  4. ^ Epiphany procession and swimming for the Holy Cross in Zemun . In: spc.rs, January 21, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  5. ^ Dalton, Ben: Two films tie for top spot on Screen's final Berlin jury grid . In: screendaily.com, February 15, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  6. Prizes from independent juries . In: Berlinale.de (accessed on February 16, 2019).
  7. Cold Case Hammarskjöld, God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya and The Realm to vie for the LUX FILM PRIZE 2019. July 23, 2019, accessed on August 19, 2019 .
  8. LUX Film Prize goes to North Macedonian Film , deutschlandfunkkultur.de Kulturnachrichten from November 28, 2019, accessed on the same date
  9. Teona Strugar Mitevska wins the Five Lakes Film Festival. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . September 12, 2019, accessed September 12, 2019 .