Experiencing Interruptions?

When the Water Stops Flowing

Jonathan Stavleu explores, in a stream-of-consciousness video essay, the relationship people have with water and what happens when access to it is taken away. For this work, he examines anecdotal histories he has heard from Estonians, as well as stories from his own family history in the Netherlands, weaving them together into a journal-like narrative.

  • Jonathan Stavleu
    Director
  • Jonathan Stavleu
    Writer
  • Jonathan Stavleu
    Producer
  • Jonathan Stavleu
    Key Cast
    "Narrator"
  • Jonathan Stavleu
    cinematography
  • Jonathan Stavleu
    editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 3, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    10 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Estonia, Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Estonia, Netherlands
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Tallinn
    Estonia
    January 3, 2026
    Keskpuur Art Space
Director Biography - Jonathan Stavleu

Jonathan Stavleu is a Dutch visual artist with a background in sculpture and installation. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2019 from HKU in the Dutch city of Utrecht and completed his Master of Contemporary Art in 2023 at EKA in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. Stavleu has exhibited in Amsterdam, Tallinn, Riga, Vienna, and Milan.

His artistic practice examines the relationship people have with buildings, structures, and places, and how this relationship affects their daily lives. One example is a pop-up archaeology museum he built, where he displayed building waste as archaeological artifacts to spark a dialogue about rapid gentrification.

Stavleu is new to filmmaking and hopes to expand his artistic research through micro-budget, intuitive video essays edited on his phone.

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