Description:

A song about an old lady who fishes in the river by a little village and the hungry cats who wait for her catch.

Based on a song composed and performed by Sofya Milkina.

The history of this film was written about on animator.ru. An approximate translation of that article follows:

The film is based on a song about the friendship of a lonely old woman and cats which was written many years ago by Sofya Milkina - the wife, colleague and muse of the great film director Mikhail Schweitzer.

The story behind "Cats in the Rain" is funny and sad. One day, Schweitzer and his wife were vacationing in Voronezh, the homeland of Sofya. There, they saw the future heroine of the cartoon: a local old woman, always surrounded by a flock of cats, fishing. After some time, the couple remembered this old woman, and Milkina dedicated a funny song to her. In 1985, the song was recorded on a tape recorder. The whole family sang it - Sofya was the soloist, the children sang along, and Schweitzer "performed the role" of one of the cats. In those years, they also met and became friends with Yuriy Norshteyn. The idea for the film was born, but in the new economic conditions it was not so easy to make a film.

And in 1997, Sofya Milkina died. Mikhail Schweitzer, who lost the person he loved most, decided to return to the film about the old woman. Yuriy Norshteyn was busy filming the title sequence for the TV show "Good Night, Children!", and he had no right to postpone this order. Then Aleksey Dyomin appeared in Schweitzer’s apartment.

Due to meager funding, the work dragged on for more than 2 years. The director worked practically alone. The film "Cats in the Rain" was completed on February 8, 2001. At 12 o'clock at night Aleksey Dyomin left the studio, and at 11am on February 9 he left for the Open Russian Festival for Animated Film in Tarusa. There, the director received several prizes, including "for the Most Humane Film".

Mikhail Schweitzer never saw this movie - he had died the previous year.

Awards:
2001 - Russia, Tarusa - Open Russian Festival for Animated Film - Jury Prize for the Most Humane Film
2001 - Russia - "Golden Fish" Children's film festival - Special International Jury Prize, Children's Jury Diploma
2001 - Russia/Ukraine - KROK International Animated Film Festival - Jury Prize and Diploma for best film "From 5 to 10 Minutes"
2001 - Russia - "Message to Man" - Jury Prize
2002 - Russia - "Golden Eagle" award
2002 - Russia - "Nika" award for Best Animated Film