God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija

In the Orthodox religion, the feast of Epiphany is celebrated with a race to the holy cross that a priest launches into a river. The men jump into the icy water to catch the cross, which is supposed to bring good fortune for the whole year to the winner. Thus, in Macedonia, in a village eternally cemented in the darkness of the middle ages, an almost insignificant event is going to take on excessive proportions when a woman participates to this religious ceremony ... and wins. For native males, it's an outrageous theft. For a female journalist, it's a courageous act of social rebellion and feminine emancipation. The event taking on an enormous scale, the local police must intervene. This is the beginning of a downward spiral based on conformity, tradition, archaism, distressing methods of intimidation as well as ridiculous guilt-inducing monologues. As depressing as it may seem, this movie is based on an excellent quartet 'cast + photography + script + dialog'. A delightful surprise from Macedonia.

I wouldn't change a scene or a word. It's an epic film that speaks to my upbringing, my culture and my heart. Petrunija is a goodness, follows her heart, her spirit and her inner voice. She doesn't trust the police, the church orthe media. You have to watch it!

Undeveloped story with some good dialogue scenes where Zorica Nushewas character comes alive for a few seconds. Feels like a short film being blown out of proportion. Little character development with a predictable plot and some unbelievable characters. Probably must do for Macedonia. Not a must see for everyone.

Reflects the mood of the present day, across the world, encompassing all religions. Men are expected to participate in major religious rituals, while women are kept out by archaic man-made rules. Petrunya is a not-so-pretty but well-educated middle-aged woman hoping for a lucky break in her life. She gets it, when she jumps into a river to get a blessed cross thrown by priests traditionally to be found in the river by a male member who will get luck for the year. A lovely entertaining and humanist film, deserving of the Honors at Berlin and other film festivals

I have just watched this movie in Athens and I am very satisfied with it. We were eleven spectators in the theatre during the 20:00 local time screening while rain and wind were raging outside. I had read about the message it seeks to convey and I think it does so very effectively. It is one-sided aligning with progress against religious tradition, obscurantism and male chauvinism. Some of those who uphold religious tradition and patriarchal authority are portrayed very negatively, the equivalent of "church and king" crowds of earlier times. Others such as the priest and some policemen are more ambivalent characters with both negative and positive aspects. Even the TV journalist though who upholds progressivism is not an altogether positive character. The plot is simple: an educated young woman who is nevertheless unemployed performs almost thoughtlessly a symbolic act which puts her at odds with the longstanding conventions and prejudices of a backward society and suffers the consequences. Clearly the movie sides with the open society option against ossified tradition. Not everyone will like this but most people in the West will.