Asja, a 40-year-old single woman living in Sarajevo, is looking for love. Trying out intensive methods to meet new people and encouraged by her mother, she joins a speed dating event, where she is matched with Zoran, a 43-year-old banker. But despite their seemingly successful pairing, their haunting past returns to prove that the two of them were once found on opposite battlefields and that Zoran is in search of redemption rather than a romantic affair. Armed with a brilliant cast of characters and a penetrating script, this visually arresting investigation into the continuation of life in the aftermath of war, manages to present the devastating history of the Balkans in a contained, complex fashion; but most of all, the film delivers a captivating, eternal message about the soul power released through the unearthing of buried feelings.
The Happiest Man in the World
Najsreќniot Čovek na Svetot
63rd TIFF: Greek Premiere
Screening Schedule
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No physical screenings scheduled. |
- Direction: Teona Strugar Mitevska
- Script: Elma Tataragić, Teona Strugar Mitevska
- Cinematography: Virginie Saint Martin
- Editing: Per K. Kirkegaard
- Sound: Kristoffer Salting, Ingrid Simon, Viktor Grabar
- Actors: Jelena Kordić Kuret, Adnan Omerović, Labina Mitevska, Ana Kostovska, Ksenija Marinković, Izudin Bajrović, Irma Alimanović, Vedrana Božinović, Mona Muratović, Nikolina Kujača, Siniša Vidović, Kemal Rizvanović
- Production: Sisters and Brother Mitevski, Entre Chien et Loup, Vertigo, Frau film, Terminal 3, Scca/pro.ba
- Producers: Labina Mitevska, Sébastien Delloye, Danijel Hočevar, Vanja Sremac, Maria Møller Christoffersen, Amra Bakšić Čamo, Adis Đapo
- Co-production: Belga Productions
- Costumes: Monika Lorber
- Production Design: Vuk Mitevski
- Make Up: Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska
- Format: DCP
- Color: Color
- Production Country: North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Denmark, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Production Year: 2022
- Duration: 96΄
- Contact: Pyramide International
Teona Strugar Mitevska
Writer and director Teona Strugar Mitevska was born in 1974 in Skopje, began her career as a child actor, and pursued studies in visual arts and film at NYU’s Tisch School. Her short Veta (2001) won the Berlinale Special Jury Prize (2002), and her debut feature How I Killed a Saint premiered in Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition (2004). Notable works include I Am from Titov Veles, When the Day Had No Name (Berlinale Panorama, 2017), and God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (Berlinale Competition, 2019), which received prestigious awards, including the LUX Prize. This was followed by the film The Happiest Man in the World (Venice Horizons, 2022). Her latest feature, Mother (2025), marks her English-language debut.
Filmography
2001 Veta (short)
2004 Kako ubiv svetec
2007 Jas sum od Titov Veles
2012 The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears
2017 When the Day Had No Name
2019 God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija
2022 The Happiest Man in the World
2023 21 Days Until the End of the World
2025 Mother (co-direction)
2004 Kako ubiv svetec
2007 Jas sum od Titov Veles
2012 The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears
2017 When the Day Had No Name
2019 God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija
2022 The Happiest Man in the World
2023 21 Days Until the End of the World
2025 Mother (co-direction)
