It’s an icon of American cinema: the 1974 neo-noir Chinatown shone a gritty light on the California Water Wars of the early 20^th century, when politicians of a parched Los Angeles schemed to divert water used by ranchers and farmers in the Owens Valley. Spoiler alert: at the end of the movie, almost everyone’s kicked the bucket, leaving Jack Nicholson’s wearied gumshoe to ponder the bleak lesson that power stays with those in power and nothing really changes.

Not exactly a hopeful ending. But for Marina Zenovich, director of the new documentary Water and Power: A California Heist, the power of Chinatown’s fictional account was a way in to the contemporary Golden State’s all-too-real water woes. (Read more