The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears

Summary

Teona Strugar Mitevska's third film makes use of fairy-tale elements to describe the tragedies of two families. "The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears" begins in France and follows its protagonists deep into the forests of Macedonia.

In Paris, Helena's son dies tragically. Desperate to compensate for her loss, she tries to make Lucian, a deportee, a part of her life. As his supervisor, she succeeds in abducting the young man. And so Helena, her husband and Lucian travel to Macedonia where the couple have decided to scatter their son's ashes and discover the county. In Macedonia Lucian's lover Ajsun is struggling for her independence. She and Lucian have a young son, but Ajsun's father has now sold his daughter to another man in order to protect her from the shame of having an illegitimate child. Both Ajsun and Helena must try to hold their own in a male-dominated world.

Whereas the director's last film "Jas Sum Od Titov Veles" (which screened in the 2008 Panorama) was set in the post-Communist Balkans, the new work contrasts the hustle and bustle of modern day Paris with life in rural Macedonia. A tale pervaded by stray wolves, magical powers and strange coincidences.

Source: 62. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)