The Republic of Macedonia
Before and After the Rain
Biljana Belamaric-Wilsey
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Where, Who, What, When
• Where?
– SE Europe
– Borders:
•
•
•
•
Greece to S
Albania to W
Bulgaria to E
Serbia, Kosovo to N
– Geographic
coordinates:
• 41 50 N, 22 00 E
– Area:
• total: 25,333 sq km
• water: 477 sq km
• land: 24,856 sq km
– Area comparative:
• slightly larger than
Vermont
Where, Who, What, When
• Who?
– Population (2004 est.):
• 2,071,210
– Religions:
• Macedonian Orthodox
70%
• Muslim 29%
• other 1%
– Ethnic groups (2002):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Macedonian 64.2%
Albanian 25.2%
Turkish 3.8%
Roma 2.7%
Serb 1.8%
other 2.3%
The purple section signifies the portion of the territory
of Macedonia where the majority of the population is
Ethnic-Albanian.
Q: Can you guess the ethnicity?
A:
Albanian
Macedonian
Q: Can you guess the ethnicity?
A:
Albanian
Macedonian
Q: Can you guess the ethnicity?
A:
Macedonian
Albanian
Where, Who, What, When
• What?
– Languages:
•
•
•
•
•
Macedonian 68%
Albanian 25%
Turkish 3%
Serbo-Croatian 2%
other 2%
Where, Who, What, When
• Concise History of Macedonia before the rain (handout – front
page)
This is the objectionable (to the
Greek government) first flag of the
Republic of Macedonia, featuring
the sun of Vergina, also found on
the casket of Alexander the Great
This is the current flag of the Republic
of Macedonia (not objectionable)
• More Details During The Rain (handout – back page)
• After the Rain (occasional incidents, e.g. during the ‘02 census)
Before The Rain
(from the website: http://balkansnet.org/rain.html )
•Before the Rain is a love
story told in three parts
linked by characters and
events that alternate
between contemporary
London and the
mountains of Macedonia.
•"Before the Rain refers to
the feeling of heavy
expectation, when the
skies are pregnant with
the possibility of an
outburst, when the people
are silent, waiting for a
tragedy of cleansing,"
explains writer/director
Milcho Manchevski.
Before the Rain
(from the website: http://balkansnet.org/rain.html )
•
•
•
1 In part one, Words, we meet Kiril, a young
Macedonian monk who has taken a vow of
silence in a 12th-century monastery. When he
discovers a mysterious Albanian girl hiding in
his room, his desire to protect her stirs
feelings in the young man which have dire
consequences.
2 In part two, Faces, Anne is a London photo
deitor who is torn between two men - Nick,
her estranged husband for whom she feels
little passion, and Aleksandar, a passionate,
wildly quixotic Pulitzer Prize-winning war
photographer. Anne's profound personal
crisis is overtaken by tragedy when a conflict
unexpectedly erupts in a London restaurant.
3 Part three, Pictures, finds Aleksandar
leaving his hectic life in London to return to
his childhood village in Macedonia. But things
have changed dramatically in the years since
he left and the violence he has witnessed as
a frontline photographer has come home,
turning neighbors into enemies. When his
childhood love from a neighboring village
seeks his help to protect her daughter,
Aleksandar is thrust into an ethnic conflict
which has tragic consequences.
Language in The Film
• Who speaks what?
–
–
–
–
–
–
The Monks
The Ethnic-Albanian Girl
The Photographer
The Waiter(s)
The Girl’s Grandfather
The Girl’s Mother
- Macedonian
- Albanian
- Macedonian (very little Albanian)
- Serbian/Croatian
- Albanian and Macedonian
- Albanian and Macedonian
• Remember: it is possible for two people, both of whom are
citizens of Macedonia but who are from two different ethnicities,
not to speak each other’s language, and therefore not to be able
to understand each other
•
The script for the film (in English) is available online on the website of the director
and script writer for the film, Milcho Manchevski
(http://www.manchevski.com.mk/). You can also find it by clicking here.
Pleasant Watching!!!