"What if God exists and is a woman?"
A Macedonian film "God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya" sought to answer this question but has left open the answer open for audiences. 

The film was screened at the Goethe-Institut, Beijing, on October 26, during the 7th Baturu International Cultural Festival, formerly known as China Women's Film Festival. The movie was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. 

Based on true story

According to the director, Teona Strugar Mitevska, the original idea for the movie was based on a true story that happened in Macedonia.  

During a traditional Macedonian religious custom to celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany, hundreds of young guys fight to grab the holy cross thrown into the river by the priest. And whoever retrieves the cross will be blessed in the next year.  

In the movie, a woman named Petrunya catches the cross and escapes, causing chaos among the young men for usurping what was considered a male privilege. The policemen took her cross away and claimed that she had stolen it.  

In the real story, the media reported the story in an unserious way, so Teona thought the story needed more attention and to be taken seriously. That's one of the reasons why she made the movie. 

Petrunya may be the first woman who catches the cross in Macedonia, but she is not the only one. After the screening, Tenoa said there was another woman who did so last year, and this time the men gave the cross back to her without any problems. 

Cultural Exchanges

Ieva Kavaliauskaite is one of the exhibition planners this year. She is from Lithuania and has been joined in activities related to China for the last five years. 

The Baturu Cultural Festival has gathered directors, actors and other artists from different countries, providing participants with a platform to share different ideas from a diversified perspective. 

It's important to have an open conversation and be open-minded, Ieva told CGTN. She thinks women in different countries may experience different problems in their lives, but they are all trying to make changes. 

Through various cultural exchanges as people from different regions know each other better, prejudice and misunderstanding will be eliminated one day in the future. 

Scriptwriter: Zhang Ziyu

Video editor: Yu Yingtian

Videographer: Yu Yingtian

Cover image designer: Jia Jieqiong