Before the Rain

Before the Rain (1994) was the first feature made in the newly declared republic of Macedonia, part of the former Yugoslavia. It was also the first Macedonian film to be nominated for an Oscar.

In the restaurant, over 30 shots are fired with a pistol without reloading.

The film begins with a pan over a Macedonian sky covered by dark clouds at dusk. We hear sounds of thunder, when an epigraph from the novel "Dervis i smrt" (The Dervish and Death) by Mesa Selimovic appears on the screen, while a voice is heard reading it: "With a shriek birds flee across the black sky, people are silent, my blood aches from waiting". Afterwards, the titles appear.

Referenced in The 67th Annual Academy Awards (1995)