A woman in small-town Macedonia defies tradition and challenges the patriarchy in “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya.” Based on a true story, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s satire sees Petrunya (Zorica Nusheva), a single, unemployed woman, participating in an all-male religious ritual. Every January, the high priest throws a cross into local waters while dozens of men charge for it. This year they are joined by Petrunya. She finds the cross, which is believed to bring fortune and prosperity.
“You’ll have a year of good luck,” Petrunya is told in our exclusive trailer for the film. Her competitors believe that she’s undeserving of the honor — that she wasn’t eligible to enter the water in the first place. “Haven’t I got the right to be happy?” Petrunya asks. “Is it really such a big deal that a woman caught the cross?”
Asked what she’d like audiences to think about after seeing the film, Mitevska told us, “Each of us, no matter the gender, size, or color, has the power within and the right to change society.”
The filmmaker’s other credits include “When The Day Had No Name” and “The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears.”
“God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya” made its world premiere in competition at the 2019 Berlinale. The film opens in theaters and virtual cinemas June 25.
