THE GREAT WATER (GOLEMATA VODA) European Showcase

Risk taking in every sense of the word, Ivo Trajov’s unique take on a ’70s era novel explores the atrocious effects of war and political oppression. Filmed in Macedonia despite brimming socio-political upheaval, THE GREAT WATER is a coming-of-age period piece that is, even by today’s standards, fantastically cutting edge. Republic of Macedonia’s official Oscar selection for Best Foreign Language Film.

Lem Nikodinoski, a prominent politician, is rushed to the hospital. Slipping into a coma, he returns lo his childhood and the lost chaotic days of World War II. Young and orphaned, Lem is seized by Communist soldiers and imprisoned in a thickly walled labor comp for children. Relentlessly, Lem and his compatriots are brutally force-fed Stalinist propaganda, but one day when a mysterious young man is brought into their ranks, Lem’s world is forever changed.

Emotionally riveting and visually startling, THE GREAT WATER is at once vivid and dream-like, astonishingly real but touched with elements of the supernatural.