This week the organizers of the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival announced that the opening film will be God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska. The festival will take place from August 29th until September 5th in Seoul, Korea.

The Opening Ceremony will take place on August 29th (Thursday) in Oil Tank Culture Park T0 at 18:30 pm. The ceremony consists of a Purple Carpet presentation followed by live performance of Korean traditional music band “The Tune”. And finally, the screening of the opening film. Please bear in mind that the admission for this event is only via invitation.

God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska
Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, France, Croatia | 2018 – 100 minutes

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. (SIWFF Website)

Trailer:

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 M.F.A program in film at the Tisch School of Arts, New York University. She made her debut as short film director in 2001 with Veta (Special Jury Prize Berlin Film Festival 2002). How I Killed a Saint (Rotterdam Film Festival, Tiger Awards 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 Film Festival, and was shown in Berlin 2008 and Cannes. In 2016, God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija shot in January 2018, will be premiered in Competition in Berlin Film Festival 2019.