Mitevska's team is positioning the sequel as a continuation of Petrunya's journey, framing it as a necessary exploration of what happens when a woman refuses to stay quiet after making waves.
Insiders at Sarajevo Film Festival whisper that Mitevska spent years searching for the right co-writer before locking in Elma Tataragić — and the project nearly fell apart twice due to funding battles with regional distributors skeptical of 'controversial' female-driven content.
The original film premiered IN COMPETITION at the Berlinale in 2019, not just a sidebar selection. Mitevska announced the sequel at Sarajevo Film Festival, where she was present as a featured guest director.
When a filmmaker takes seven years to return to their most politically charged character, you know they're either chasing redemption or settling scores — and with Mitevska's track record of razor-sharp social commentary, this sequel is going to be must-watch cinema whether industry gatekeepers like it or not.
North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Mitevska has confirmed she's returning to the character that put Balkan feminist cinema on the international map. The director, best known for her Cannes-acclaimed drama "Mother," revealed at the Sarajevo Film Festival that she is actively developing a sequel to her 2019 Berlinale competition hit "God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya." The new film, titled "Petra Doesn't Wa..." (full title truncated in initial reports), will be co-written with Elma Tataragić, marking the first major creative collaboration between the two filmmakers since Mitevska established herself as one of Eastern Europe's most uncompromising cinematic voices.
The original "God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya" arrived like a thunderclap at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the prestigious Golden Bear. The film follows a young woman in Macedonia who steals a church cross during an Epiphany tradition and refuses to return it, sparking a media frenzy that exposes the systemic misogyny embedded in her small town. Mitevska crafted the story as both biting social satire and deeply personal character study, earning critical comparisons to the works of Yorgos Lanthimos and Ruben Östlund for its unflinching examination of how societies punish women who refuse to be compliant.
What makes this sequel announcement particularly significant is the seven-year gap between films. Sources close to production tell me that Mitevska has been protective of Petrunya's story, rejecting multiple studio approaches that would have softened the character's edges or commercialized her political message. The director's decision to partner with Tataragić — herself an acclaimed screenwriter known for Balkan arthouse work including "The Load" and "Memory of the Paper" — suggests she is prioritizing artistic integrity over accelerated timelines.
Their collaboration signals a deepening of the satirical lens rather than a mainstream expansion. Festival insiders at Sarajevo are already buzzing about what this sequel could mean for the director's trajectory. "Mother," which premiered at Cannes in 2023, elevated Mitevska to international auteur status, but industry observers note that she has never strayed far from the themes that defined her breakthrough: institutional corruption, female resistance, and the absurdity of bureaucratic power structures.
The Petrunya character represents something rare in contemporary cinema — a fully realized woman whose rebellion doesn't get neatly resolved or punished into lesson-learning. A sequel now raises stakes for what Mitevska will demand from audiences and institutions alike. The announcement comes at a volatile moment for Eastern European cinema, where funding bodies have grown increasingly cautious about supporting politically provocative work amid shifting regional governments.
Whether "Petra Doesn't Wa..." faces the same distribution battles that reportedly delayed other feminist projects remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Teona Mitevska isn't making this sequel because anyone asked for it. She's making it because Petrunya's story apparently wasn't finished — and neither, it seems, is her appetite for trouble.