Brides of the Well - Wateraid

WaterAid asked Nucco to collaborate with the Indian filmmaker and author Shekhar Kapur, adapting his short story Brides of the Well into an animated film. The story follows two teenagers in Punjab, northern India, and highlights how water scarcity disproportionately affects women and girls — forcing many to drop out of school, walk long distances daily, and in some cases making them vulnerable to child marriage.


The brief called for a film that would add emotional weight to WaterAid’s message without becoming didactic. The team developed a bold, painterly visual style with strong colours and meticulous detail, creating characters and environments that did justice to Kapur’s original story while keeping the narrative grounded in lived experience.


I storyboarded and art directed the film, working with the design and animation team to establish the visual tone and ensure the storytelling carried the right emotional register throughout.