Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Costa (Luis Tosar), both in their mid thirties, are life long friends only in the way a warring couple might be. Sebastian is an obsessive idealist who has sworn to his inner self that he will direct a film about one of the worlds most iconic figures, Christopher Columbus (Karra Elejalde). Not for him the hypocritical lies of a genius sailor on a divine mission to win souls for Christ. He is determined to upturn the entire conservative myth of Western Civilization's arrival in the Americas as a force for good. Rather, his story is about what Columbus set in motion; the obsession with gold, the hunt for slaves by Spanish mastiffs, and punitive violence to those Indians who fought back. His story is counterbalanced by the radical priests Bartolome de las Casas (Raul Arevalo) and Antonio Montestinos (Carlos Santos) who were the first to raise their voice in defence of the Indians, and ask the question, Are these men? Sebastian is also obsessed by the first Indian leader to resist - Hatuey (Carlos Aduviri), who was nailed to a cross and crucified as example to those who oppose the Christians. The talented and brilliant actor playing Columbus constantly challenges Sebastian and accuses him of agit prop and cheap manipulation. Costa doesn't give a shit. He cares little about what happened yesterday, never mind 500 years ago. The only thing that matters to him is his professional pride as a producer - that the film is made on time and within budget. Costa has come up with an insane idea, but the only way to get a difficult film made within the limitations of their modest budget. Despite Sebastian's fury, they will shoot in Bolivia, the cheapest and most Indian of Latin American countries.As the shoot progresses in and around the city of Cochabamba, so too does civil and political unrest simmer below the surface as the entire water supply of the city is privatized and sold to a British and American multinational. As Sebastian and Costa struggle with their film the violence in the community in which they shoot increases by the day, until the entire city explodes into the now infamous Bolivian Water War. (This actually took place in April 2000.) 500 years after Columbus sticks and stones confront steel and gun powder of a modern army. David against Goliath once again. Only this time they fight not about gold, but the simplest of life-giving elements - water.
Who does Sebastian want to make a film about?
Christopher Columbus