17/12/2024 - The Macedonian filmmaker has just wrapped shooting on her ambitious and atypical Mother Teresa biopic project

Actress Noomi Rapace (© Myles Kalus Anak Jihem)

In mid-November, shooting wrapped on Mother, the seventh feature film by Brussels-based, Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska, with Swedish actress Noomi Rapace playing the mythical figure of Mother Teresa. Teona Strugar Mitevska got noticed on the international scene with her second feature, I Am From Titov Veles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile], presented at the Berlinale and which then screened at more than 80 festivals. In 2019, she received the LUX Prize for God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Labina Mitevska
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile]. Her latest fiction film, The Happiest Man in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile], was presented at Venice, in the Orizzonti section.

Fascinated for several years with the complex figure of Mother Teresa, who like her was born in Skopje in North Macedonia (then still the Ottoman Empire), she has chosen to focus on a brief period of her life, a few weeks after the end of World War II, before the nun founded her own congregation, the Missionaries of Charity. The film begins in Calcutta, in 1948. Time is of the essence, Mother Teresa must prepare the convent for her imminent departure and designate her successor. She chose the only possible candidate for her: Sister Agnieszka. But very soon, Agnieszka admits she must refuse this offer because she is pregnant from a brief love affair. Agnieszka wants an abortion and in her mind, only Mother Teresa can help. Torn between her beliefs and her compassion, will Mother Teresa be able to carry this heavy secret?

To play Teresa, the filmmaker has chosen Noomi Rapace, discovered by the general public for her turn as Lisbeth Salander in the Millenium [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niels Arden Oplev
interview: Søren Stærmose
film profile] films and mini-series. In recent years, she appears as the strange heroine in Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valdimar Jóhannsson
film profile], the debut feature by Icelandic filmmaker Valdimar Jóhannsson, as well as in many European productions, in Sweden, Serbia or Norway. Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks will play Sister Agnieszka; she also appeared in an adaptation of the universe of Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson, who created Millenium. Macedonian actor Nikola Ristanovski will play Father Friedrich, Mother Teresa’s friend and confessor. 

The film is being produced by Sébastien Delloye for Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), who recently produced the Portuguese film Alma Viva [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristèle Alves Meira
film profile] by Cristèle Alves Meira, as well as Beyond the Horizon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine Lehericey
film profile] by Belgian-Swiss filmmaker Delphine Lehericey, and which has been following Teona Strugar Mitevska since I Am From Titov Veles. The film is being co-produced in North Macedonia by Sisters and Brother Mitevski, which as its name indicates, brings together the siblings, therefore Teona, as well as Vuk Mitevski and Labina Mitevska, which just received the International Co-Production Eurimages Prize. Mother is also co-produced in Sweden by Rainy Days, in Denmark by Frau Film, and in India by Raging Film. International sales are handled by Kinology and distribution in the Benelux by September Film.

(Translated from French)