God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya

The town of Štip in North Macedonia. Every January the priest throws a wooden cross into the river and men jump in to get it; whoever finds it is believed to be lucky for a year. Petrunya is thirty two, studied history and cannot find work. That day she comes out of a job interview badly and, passing the crowd, jumps into the water. She gets the cross. Nobody knows what to do: by the rule, the rite is for men. The men want it back, the priest cannot decide, and the police take her to the station. Petrunya will not hand it over. Teona Strugar Mitevska directs. Zorica Nuševa plays Petrunya. The rite behind the narrative is real and a similar incident took place in Macedonia; the film starts from that case. The matter it treats is rules; nobody can point to a written prohibition and everybody says it has always been this way. The central argument takes place at the police station and the film gives it almost in real time. The church, the police and the press are all engaged at once and each tries to close the matter in its own favour. Petrunya is nowhere built as a hero; she does not fully know what she is doing herself and cannot explain her stubbornness. The film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won an award. Who it is for: viewers who like Balkan cinema and social satire. Who it is not for: the events turn on a single day and a single argument, the pace is slow, and the ending is soft.