NAJSREḰNIOT ČOVEK NA SVETOT

Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Elma Tataragić, Teona Strugar Mitevska. Fotografia / Photography: Virginie Saint Martin. Montaggio / Editing: Per K. Kirkegaard. Suono / Sound: Ingrid Simon, Kristoffer Salting, Viktor Grabar. Scenografia / Art Director: Vuk Mitevski. Costumi / Costume Designer: Monika Lorber. Interpreti / Cast: 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. Produzione / Produced by: Sisters and Brother Mitevski, Entre Chien et Loup, Vertigo, Frau film, Terminal 3, SCCA/pro.ba. Coproduzione / Co-produced by: Belga Productions. Con il sostegno di / Supported by: North Macedonia Film Agency, Eurimages, The Danish Film Institute, Slovenian Film Centre, Croatian Audiovisual Centrefondacija za Kinematografiju Sarajevo Ministry of Culture and Sport, Canton Sarajevo, Tax Shelter via Belga Films Fund, FS Viba Film. Distribuzione internazionale / World Sales: Pyramide International. Distribuzione per l’Italia / Distributed in Italy by: Teodora Film.

Asja, a 40-year-old single woman, lives in Sarajevo. In order to meet new people, she ends up spending her Saturday in a speed dating event. She’s matched with Zoran, a 43-year-old banker. However, Zoran is not looking for love but forgiveness. The Happiest Man in the World premiered at the “Orizzonti” section of the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

“What defines us: our ethnicity, religion, gender? What divide us or unite us? This is a story about precariousness of life, the chance encounters bringing together the aggressor and the victim, reviving the painful past; this is a story of impossible connections, of love and absurdity. The film starts as a humor driven excursion and develops into a mountain of experiences. The natural rhythm is primordial and it’s tightly connected to the human inquiry techniques while seeking truth after violence. I see this film as a symphony of choreographed movements unpacking layers of emotions that slowly entangle the viewer to a point of vertigo like state. Location is essential: an 80’s style hotel, a witness to Ex-Yugoslav architectural style: concrete brutalism or modernism, and then there is the injured city of Sarajevo, a testament to open wounds and past pains.” (T. Strugar Mitevska)

Teona Strugar Mitevska
Teona Strugar Mitevska was born in Macedonia and lives between Skopje and Brussels. She started as a child actor, trained as a painter and graphic designer and studied film at NYU-Tisch School of Arts. She directed her first short, Veta, in 2001, and has been making films ever since. In 2018, France’s Ministry of Culture awarded her the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters.

filmografia scelta / selected filmography
2001  Veta  cm / sf 2004 Kako ubiv svetec (How I Killed a Saint)  cm / sf 2007 Jas sum od Titov Veles (I Am from Titov Veles) 2012 The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears 2013 Teresa and I doc. 2017 When the Day Had No Name 2019 Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija (Dio è donna e si chiama Petrunya / God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija); Premi / Awards: Berlinale –  Premio della Giuria ecumenica, German Guild Film Prize / Ecumenical Jury Award, German Guild Film Prize; Premio LUX del Parlamento Europeo / LUX Prize by the European Parliament 2022 Najsreќniot čovek na svetot (L’uomo più felice del mondo / The Happiest Man in the World)