19 March 2008

The first film made in the newly independent Republic of Macedonia, Milcho Manchevski's Before the Rain crosscuts the stories of an orthodox Christian monk (Grégoire Colin), a British photo agent (Katrin Cartlidge), and a native Macedonian war photographer (Rade Šerbed�ija) to paint a portrait of simmering, entrenched ethnic and religious hatred about to reach its boiling point. Made during the strife of the war-torn Balkan states in the nineties, this gripping triptych of love and violence is also a timeless evocation of the loss of pastoral innocence, and remains one of recent cinema's most poetic evocations of the futility of war.

The film has been announced for a June DVD release as a director-approaved special edition by Criterion with the following features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Milcho Manchevski;
• Audio commentary featuring Manchevski and film scholar Annette Insdorf;
• New video interview with actor Rade Šerbed�ija;
• Manchevski's award-winning music video of Arrested Development's "Tennessee";
• Stills galleries of Manchevski's photographs and on-set shots;
• Theatrical trailer;
• New and improved English subtitle translation;
• A new essay by film scholar Ian Christie.

Before the Rain will be released on US DVD by Criterion in June 2008 (exact date to be confirmed) at the SRP of $39.95.