Sebastián is an idealistic and slightly naive director who is planning to make a film about Christoph Columbus, debunking the myth that western civilisation may have brought anything good to Latin America. Instead he wants to show what Columbus set in motion: the thirst for gold, the slave trade and terrible violence against the indigenous population. Sebastián‘s friend and producer, Costa, is only interested in the film staying within budget and being completed on time. For this reason he produces the film in Bolivia, the poorest and most »Indian« country in South America. During shooting in the city of Cochabamba there is unrest because the local water supply has been privatised by an Anglo-American company. Violence escalates through the city: 500 years after Columbus, the Indian population, with nothing but sticks and stones, again confronts a heavily armed modern army. This time the fight is about the most basic of all resources: water.
Icíar Bollaín links three narrative threads in También la lluvia. The historical drama goes deep into the country‘s past, the Wasserkrieg [Water War] alludes to more recent Bolivian history, and the personal experiences of director Sebastián and his producer Costa show the circumstances they find themselves in and explains the decisions they are forced to make. También la lluvia provides a skilfully staged analysis of the topicality of colonial myths and the reality of today‘s social struggles.