Qotzuñi: People of the Lake

Directed by Gastón Zilberman, Michael Salama

Cast: Cipriana Mendoza Tola, Félix Mauricio Zuna, Rufino Choque Chachaque

Environmental Focus, International Spotlight, Shorts Competition, Spanish-Language Focus
Argentina
Climate change, documentary, Enviroment
Spanish
Subtitled
2024
13 mins

“The lake was our mother, our father. Now, we are orphans.” The Uru Nation lived for generations on Lake Poopó, hunting, fishing, and forming deep cultural ties to its waters. By 2016, due to mining pollution, diverted tributaries, and drought, the lake vanished. ThisShort film portrays the resilience of the last Urus, who still call themselves Qotzuñis—“people of the lake.”