Idea 1. meta doc/narrative
Leave the narrative totally abstract, just peripherally relating to the flood. Split it into 'poetic' chapters with manuel introducing each one. at the end of each one have a character from it in hd doc format taking about the movie and their experience (like domingos in the middle of hoeing his fields in the sun, wipes his brow and goes into talking about how he hosed nour in the tank) finish with the screening for the town. this way we have way enough good 16mm footage really beautiful stuff. and i htink it would be an easy solution to make a really charming good feature. real meta

idea 2. linear narrative - main characters=buffoon/patricia
make a mix of my edit (all bad shit cut out) with your edit (restructure to make more sense). Then when thats done we see what we could film - 3 or 4 key scenes with the buffoon and pat that we write from scratch. This way the spectator has something to relate to and we can build up to the final scene. Since theres so much yapping in the movie (people talking incessantly about stuff that doesnt really make sense and isnt so funny) these parts could be more quiet or poetic in some ways, but writen so they still push the narrative forward. This is still with the idea of manuel singing, and fininshing on a grand note, like donkey/pat/buffoon on boat, or something else.