Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal arrived Tuesday in the Cochabamba region, in the heart of Bolivia, for filming of the movie Tambien la lluvia [Even the Rain ], which is about the so-called “Water War” which occurred in the region in the year 2000. Morena Films stated on Tuesday that filmmaker Iciar Bollain is directing the story with strong critical, humanitarian, and social elements for 9 weeks in Bolivia and in Mexico City.

Since performing in the Oscar-nominated short film De tripas corazon by Antonio Urrutia, Gael Garcia Bernal rose to international fame with titles like Amores perros [Love’s a Bitch ], Diarios de motocicleta [The Motorcycle Diaries ], and Babel. Now, he is acting in a Spanish, Mexican and French co-production with Luis Tosar and Belen Guerra. The film is being shot in the aforementioned Cochabamba region in the rural town of Chapare, some 380 kilometres east of La Paz.

Tambien la lluvia is about two friends thirty years-of-age who propose to make a film about the explorer Christopher Columbus, but have a low budget. So, they arrive in Bolivia, one of the cheapest of countries, and one with a large indigenous population. The surprise is that 500 years alter Columbus, sticks and stones once again face a modern army, not in a quest for gold, but rather a substance vital to life, water.