Qotzuñi: People of the Lake

Directed by Michael Salama, Gastón Zilberman · 2025

As Bolivia's Lake Poopó vanishes, the Uru communities who have lived on it for generations confront what it means to be People of the Lake without a lake.

A DOC NYC Grand Jury winner about a people whose identity is drying up with their lake.

The Uru indigenous communities of Bolivia have lived on Lake Poopó for generations. Faced with its disappearance, they must grapple with what it means to be Qotzuñi, or People of the Lake, when the lake ceases to exist.

Plays in YouTube's player · Watch on YouTube