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)

• More Details During The Rain (handout – back page)• After the Rain (occasional incidents, e.g. during the ‘02 census)

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)

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 - Macedonian– The Ethnic-Albanian Girl - Albanian– The Photographer - Macedonian (very little

Albanian)– The Waiter(s) - Serbian/Croatian– The Girl’s Grandfather - Albanian and Macedonian– The Girl’s Mother - 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!!!