Directed and produced by Swati Dandekar, 'Water and a City' traces the journey of water through Bangalore using a succession of haunting images.
It explores the ingress of water into the city, and the various routes by which water enters various households across the economic strata. The film also continues to accompany water as it leaves these households in the form of sewage. The inability of the city to understand the interconnectedness water in all its forms- groundwater, rainwater, surfacewater, sewage- and the impact of this inability is also explored.
This journey is depicted through informative interviews with various residents of the city- householders, sellers of water, water 'experts', and officials and through images that volubly tell stories. Images of a man wading through a sea of empty plastic water bottles, rows of bright plastic pots, people waiting at a standpost are juxtaposed with images of people sluicing pavements with a hose, freshly washed cars, and stadiums were there was once a tank. These images narrate a poignant story that stars want, greed, indifference, vulnerability and a resilient people.
Watch the movie online here.