Across cultures, over borders, and throughout history, water is used as a symbol for life. Yet its relationship to human existence extends beyond our biological necessities. Water soaks deeply into our economic, social, and political realities and because of its indispensable and irreplaceable presence within civilization, water can also come to be a symbol for power. Capturing Water skillfully tells this story and exposes the violent realities of water scarcity, a direct consequence of neoliberal policies and practices, compounded by the impacts of climate change. It simultaneously centres the unwavering spirit of women and communities: from their personal struggles to their political organising work at the forefront of the fight for water justice. The film powerfully amplifies their vision to see water as part of a commons: available to all, with equitable distribution within and across populations, protected from misuse and harm to ensure its availability for future generations.

“Desai has produced a masterful documentary, which tells a universal story of neoliberal injustice through the lens of the Cape Town water crisis. Beautifully filmed and amplifying the voices of the African Water Commons Collective, among others, it traces a logic starting with colonialism and ending with the commodification of water on global futures markets. It should prove an important contribution to popular education on the connections across some of the biggest questions of our times.”

Capturing Water brings fresh insights into activism and hope. You will meet working class activists, bravely mobilising against a city that restricts their water without the dignity of discussion; an activist farmer litigating to stop city plans to cement over an aquifer that provides affordable food to thousands of people, and a suburban activist tirelessly engaging a city that makes decades of empty promises to stop the sewage flowing into life-giving wetlands.

“Capturing Water offers a very timely and insightful commentary on the production of urban water crises. In 2018, Cape Town grabbed international headlines by declaring it was on the brink of running out of water. Featuring frontline organizers in communities most impacted by the city’s decisions in the aftermath of the day zero crisis, the film asks poignant questions about who benefits and who is excluded from contemporary climate adaptation strategies. “