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The Third Half

The Third Half
The Third Half.jpg
Directed by Darko Mitrevski
Produced by Robert Naskov, Darko Mitrevski
Screenplay by Grgur Strujic and Darko Mitrevski
Based on World War 2 events
Starring Sasko Kocev
Katarina Ivanovska
Richard Sammel
Rade Sherbedgia
Emil Ruben
Mitko S. Apostolovski
Music by Kiril Džajkovski
Cinematography Klaus Fuxjager
Edited by Dejan Boskovic
Production
company
Kino Oko Production
Release date
Running time
113 minutes
Country Macedonia
Language
Budget € 2.500.000

The Third Half (Macedonian: Трето Полувреме [ˈtrɛtɔ pɔˈɫuvrɛmɛ]) is a Macedonian-Czech-Serbian film that deals with Macedonian football during World War II, and the deportation of Jews from Macedonia. It is a story of love during wartime and a country's passion for soccer. The government of Macedonia considered the movie of national interest and funded it with one million euros.

The film was inspired by the true story of the FC Macedonia football team. The Jewish coach Illés Spitz and Neta Koen (current name Marija Mladenovska)Mladenovska is a Macedonian Holocaust survivor. In 1998 the Shoah Foundation interviewed her.

The Third Half depicts the history of 7,148 Jews from ex-Yugoslavian district Vardar Banovina who were deported to the gas chambers of Treblinka by the Bulgarian administrative and military authorities, who were cooperating with the Nazi regime. In 1941, a young Eastern Orthodox man, Kosta, and a wealthy young Jewish woman, Rebecca, fall in love, despite her father's effort to keep them apart. With the war raging around their borders, the Macedonians remain cocooned in their world of patriotic pleasures, primarily concerned about getting the beleaguered Macedonia Football Club on a winning streak. Their manager hires the legendary German-Jewish coach Rudolph Spitz to turn them into champions. But when the Nazi occupation begins and they start deporting Jews, Kosta and his teammates realize that the carefree days of their youth are over. As the Nazis try to sabotage the outcome of the championship game, and Spitz's life is threatened, Kosta and his teammates rise to the challenge to protect their coach, with all of Macedonia cheering them on.

The film was directed by Darko Mitrevski and supported by the Macedonian Film Fund, the Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, The Jewish Community of Macedonia and the Czech State Fund. It was declared a film of a national interest by the Macedonian Government. The film was shot in Skopje, Bitola and Ohrid. Filming took place between September 10 and October 27, 2011.


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