Macedonia Timeless

Macedonia Timeless (Macedonian: Македонија Вечна, transliterated Makedonija Večna) is a series of promotional tourist videos about the Republic of Macedonia. The videos showcase scenery from the Balkan country and of Macedonian culture to a foreign audience. Each video of the project is the work of a private production company, carried out on behalf of the Macedonian government, which officially funds the effort. The purpose of the project as it is defined is "to promote awareness of Macedonian tourism opportunities".

Production history

The first video in the series was directed by Macedonian film-maker Milčo Mančevski, best known for directing the Academy award nominated, Before the Rain. Filming started in October 2008 and the production company Senka film was allocated a budget of €190,000 by the government to complete the one-minute video. Kiril Džajkovski arranged a version of the traditional Macedonian song "Uči me majko, karaj me" for the soundtrack.

The video begins with a father reading a book to his daughter. After opening the book, a montage of various Macedonian localities is shown, including Prespa, Veles, Ohrid, the monastery of St. Jovan Bigorski, Kokino, Stobi, Kurbinovo, Konopište and the capital of Macedonia, Skopje. Archaeological discoveries found on the territory of the country were also shown, along with depictions of Alexander The Great and Prince Marko. It was released in nine languages: Macedonian, English, Turkish, Russian, Italian, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Albanian. The video premiered on 24 December 2008, and was aired on CNN and CNN International the day after.