Film on Mother Teresa by Macedonian director to premiere at Venice Film festival

Kolkata: Acclaimed Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska's film Mother, inspired by the life of Mother Teresa and partially shot in the city, will be premiered at the upcoming 82nd International Venice Film Festival.

Mother, the seventh feature film by the Brussels-based, Macedonian filmmaker has Swedish actress Noomi Rapace playing the role of Mother Teresa, who later became Saint Teresa in a canonisation ceremony years after her death.

The film festival will be held between August 27 and September 6.

The film focuses 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 and captures the period of 1948 in Kolkata.

A substantial part of the film was shot in the city in 2024 across the iconic Howrah bridge and locations like Kumartuli, Kalighat, Entally, Loreto Convent, where Mother had taught once, Prateek Bagi, one of the co-producers of the film, said on Friday.

Having an international collaboration, the film is produced by several stakeholders - Sebastien Delloye for Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), Sisters and Brother Mitevski (Macedonia), Vuk Mitevski and Labina Mitevska, Rainy Days in Sweden, Frau film in Denmark and Raging Film in India.

Bagi recalled that the film crew was happy with the shooting experience in Kolkata, and the administration and local federation of cine technicians extended all help.

"The director thanked the office of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the administration, among others, for their help and promised to come back to the city for future projects," he said.

Apart from Bagi, SRFTI alumnus and co-founder of Raging Films, Shaunak Sur, was associated with the film and its shoots in the city.

The film Mother by director Mitevska will have the honour of opening the Orizzonti section on the first competition day of this year's Venice Film Festival, the festival directorate said.

"The Orizzonti selection at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, which will open this year with the Macedonian film Mother, is intended for films that introduce new aesthetic and expressive directions in contemporary cinematography. Works with an innovative approach in storytelling, visual style and film language are particularly valued," it said.

The film is in the competitive section..

This is the third time that Teona Strugar Mitevska has presented her film in the official programme of the Venice Film Festival.

The producers of Mother said the director was enamoured by the amazing story of Mother Teresa's life.

The director was born in Skopje in North Macedonia like her. She had initially wanted to make a documentary Theresa and Me, a project funded by the Macedonian Radio and Television and came to the city in 2010-11 for the first time.

But as she came across more amazing facts of Mother's life during research, the script for a full-length feature film was developed, and she again came with the cast and crew in 2024, the producers said.

The Orizzonti section, dedicated to showcasing innovative and emerging trends in global cinema, presents a lineup featuring both established stars and rising directorial talent, the festival directorate said.