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When the water uproots you

The village of Sfendyli had to be submerged in order to be built the project of Aposelemis dam.

The construction of this dam would serve approximately 40% of the inhabitants of Crete, but at the same time it would force the few inhabitants of Sfendyli to be uprooted from their village.
How did the residents deal with this situation?

The documentary "Sfendyli: When the water uproots you" is oriented towards the category of Social Documentaries. It deals with how the local community made up of the former residents of the village reacted and organized before and during the construction of the dam in order to claim the best they could as compensation to replace their lost homes and their lost "neighborhood".

  • Michalis Bastakis
    Director
  • Emmanouil Keroulis
    Assistant Director
  • Michalis Bastakis
    Writer
  • Michalis Bastakis
    Producer
  • Stefanos Samaritakis
    Music
  • Michalis Bastakis
    Camera Operators
  • Nikolaos Tsamandouras
    Camera Operators
  • Emmanouil Keroulis
    Camera Operators
  • Maria - Stella Zeaki
    Communication Advisor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Όταν σε ξεριζώνει το νερό
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    450 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Aegean
  • 11th Chania Film Festival
    Chania
    Greece
    October 19, 2023
    Greek Premiere
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • Byzanfest 2023
    Melbourne
    Australia
    November 26, 2023
    Australian Premiere
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • 3rd Greece International Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    January 27, 2024
    BEST MID-LENGTH FILM AWARD 🏆
  • 12th AGON International Archaeological and Cultural Doc Fest
    Athens
    Greece
    May 24, 2024
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • 5th Mysuru International Water Film Festival
    Bangalore, Karnataka
    India
    June 9, 2024
    Asian Premiere
    SPECIAL JURY MENTION 🏆
  • 3rd Aigio International Short Film Festival "Theodoros Angelopoulos"
    Aigio
    Greece
    June 27, 2024
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • 6th Bridges International Film Festival
    Loutraki, Corinth
    Greece
    July 25, 2024
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • 11th International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra
    Ierapetra
    Greece
    August 9, 2024
    FESTIVAL’S AUDIENCE AWARD 🏆 & SHORT-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY HONORARY CITATION 🏆
  • 18th International Film Festival of Larissa
    Larissa
    Greece
    November 18, 2024
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
  • 18th Greek Documentary Festival of Chalkida - DocFest
    Chalkida
    Greece
    November 23, 2024
    OFFICIAL SELECTION
Director Biography - Michalis Bastakis

🇬🇧 Born in Heraklion, Crete in 1987,
studied for Master degree in "CULTURE &
DOCUMENTARY FILM PRODUCTION", University of Aegean, Lesvos (2023).

In addition to producing and directing documentary films, he is an Informatics and Multimedia educator and works educating students in Schools and adults in Vocational Training Institutes.

In recent years he has created documentary films
such as: ▪️ Circus Camino (2022), ▪️ When the water uproots you (2023)

🇬🇷 Γεννήθηκε στο Ηράκλειο Κρήτης το 1987.
Σπούδασε στο ΠΜΣ «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ &
ΠΑΡΑΓΩΓΗ ΤΑΙΝΙΩΝ ΝΤΟΚΙΜΑΝΤΕΡ», Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου, Λέσβος (2023).

Εκτός από την παραγωγή και τη σκηνοθεσία ταινιών ντοκιμαντέρ, είναι εκπαιδευτικός Πληροφορικής και Πολυμέσων και εκπαιδεύει μαθητές σε Σχολεία και ενήλικες σε Ινστιτούτα Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια έχει δημιουργήσει ταινίες ντοκιμαντέρ
όπως: ▪️ Circus Camino (2022), ▪️ Όταν σε ξεριζώνει το νερό (2023)

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

It happened a few times that I passed by the historical village of Sfentyli in the past and I always had a strange feeling of nostalgia.

My thoughts were often there because I wondered enormously what it is like to be forced to leave your home - and probably the place of your ancestors - but unlike a refugee to have the possibility (depending on the circumstances) to be next to or in it but without actually using it.

An impressive fact that caught my interest was that the inhabitants may no longer live in the village, but they do not lose their cohesion. On the occasion of religious traditions, every year they gather to celebrate together near their sunken houses and remember the old days.