| Before the Rain Пред дождот |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Milčo Mančevski |
| Produced by | Marc Baschet |
| Written by | Milčo Mančevski |
| Starring | Katrin Cartlidge Rade Serbedzija |
| Music by | Anastasia |
| Cinematography | Manuel Teran |
| Editing by | Nicolas Gaster |
| Distributed by | Mikado Film |
| Release date(s) | 1 September 1994 (premiere at VFF) 24 February 1995 11 August 1995 |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | Macedonia United Kingdom |
| Language | Macedonian English Albanian |
Before the Rain (Macedonian: Пред дождот, Pred doždot) is a 1994 Macedonian film starring Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Šerbedžija, Grégoire Colin, and Labina Mitevska. It was directed and written by Milčo Mančevski. The music was created by the band Anastasia.
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The film is divided into three stories, all of which focus on tragic and ill-fated love affairs. In the first episode, Words, we meet Kiril, a young monk who has taken a vow of silence, who stands up for Zamira, a young Albanian girl who is accused of murder and is on the run from a mob. For her sake, Kiril leaves the monastery and the two of them make their way through the Macedonian landscape, but their romance is heading towards a sudden and brutal end.
Faces is set in bustling and trendy London. Anne, a picture editor, is torn between the love of her husband Nick and the attraction she feels for Aleksandar, a disillusioned war photographer. She is pulled into a series of tragic events by a shoot-out at a nearby restaurant.
The third and final story, Pictures, brings the two previous stories together. It focuses on Aleksandar's return to Macedonia to settle. He learns that the war has divided his home village and that his Albanian neighbours are now seen as enemies. Hana, an Albanian woman he was, and apparently still is, in love with, asks him to take care of her daughter Zamira. While Aleksandar sets out to find the girl, a storm is building on the horizon, and the film returns us to its beginning.
The film grossed $763,847 in the US which is generally much higher than box office performances of other Macedonian films. It has been praised by critics internationally, earning an 82% "Fresh" rating based on 11 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes[1]. Film critic Roger Ebert called Before the Rain an "extraordinary film. Work like this is what keeps me going, month after month and film after film ... This is a reminder of the nobility that film can attain."[1]
The music for the film was written and performed by Anastasia. It was released on a CD in 1994 by Polygram records, and sold thousands of copies worldwide.
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