SYNOPSIS

The Great Water begins when Lem Nikodinoski, an elderly Macedonian politician suffers a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. As doctors frantically treat him, Lem's mind travels back in time to when he was a twelve -year- old growing up in a Macedonian orphan­age...
World War II has just ended, and like so many of his peers, Lem has been orphaned by war. With no family and no place to live, he wanders the war - torn coun­tryside aimlessly, only to be picked up by communist soldiers and taken to a children's orphanage for ideo­logical "reprogramming." As a child whose parents were regarded as "enemies of the Revolution," Lem, along with his peers, will be forced to accept Stalin as God for the good of the Communist Party and the new Macedonia.
The orphanage itself is housed in a medieval fortress with high stonewalls separating it from a vast lake. Headmaster Comrade Ariton, a rigid yet ambitious man, and the Warden's assistant, Comrade Olivera, a girl who obsessively worships the Communist ideology of the Great Stalin, rule the orphanage by fear and discipline.
But, the orphanage has its secrets. Late at night, Verna, Ariton's beautiful wife, almost magically appears and walks by the walls of the fortress. None of the guards can see her, only Lem, as she brings him what he seeks most: hope.
With few friends, Lem looks to Isaac, a mysterious 13-year-old boy that has the courage to question the harsh communist authoritarians who run the orphanage, and the strength to endure the brutal consequences of such actions. With organized religion prohibited and no higher power to look for guidance, both boys know their survival rests on each other's strength.
The special bond the two share is forever shat­tered when Lem, in a fit of rage after discovering Olivera's blossoming romantic relationship with Isaac, destroys a sculpture of Stalin, which Olivera had made. Isaac is accused of the crime, and suffers the punishment alone. When Lem goes to Ariton to confess what he did, Ariton decides he should keep what he did to himself because such a grievous act would forever destroy his standing in the party.
As punishment for allowing the act to occur, Ariton is relieved of his post as headmaster of the orphanage. Stricken with grief, he attempts suicide only to have his wife stop him. Suicide will condemn him to eternal damnation, so she then shoots him herself at his request.
Ironically Lem is actually rewarded for his loyalty to the party by being allowed to participate in a state run academic competition, and his success at the contest allows him to leave the orphanage.

AWARDS
Mostra de Valencia Cinema del Mediterrani (2005)
Best film, Best Direction (Ivo Trajkov), Best Music (Kiril Dzajkovski) and best cinematography (Suki Medenchevic)
Dubrovnik Film Festival (2005) - Audience Award
Black Sea Film Festival (2005) - Audience Award
Film fest na decji film Ostrov - Jury first prize
International film festival Filmak- Awarded

FESTIVALS

• American Film Academy Awards - Oscar (2005), Macedonian candidate for the Oscars


• AFI FES (American Film Institute) Los Angeles – (2004)


• Palm Springs "International Film Festival - (2005)


• Sao Paulo,International Film Festival - (2005)


• Cleveland FF - (2005)


• Seattle International Film Festival – (2005)


• Jerusalem International Film Festival (2005)


• Bangkok International film festival – (2006)


• Febio Fest - opening film at the festival in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pardubice.


• International film festival of children films Zlin


• Finale - Plzen


• Letni filmova skola Uherske Hradiste


• Kino na granici.'- Cesky a PolskyTesin


• International film festival Teplicke leto


• International film festiva Karlovy Vary- (2005)


• Cine Festival- Montauroux - France – (2007) etc...