Impact Initiatives & Ethical Practices

QOTZUÑI was created in complete collaboration with the Three Uru Communities of Lake Poopó. Every step of the filmmaking process was conducted with the explicit consent and approval of tribal authorities, ensuring respectful representation and ethical practices throughout production.

We were fortunate to have the associate production of Florencio Inocente Aguilar, the then-mallku qota (maximum authority) of the three Uru communities, who provided invaluable guidance and oversight throughout the entire process and continues to support the project.

To ensure participant safety and just financial compensation, we worked with signed accords from each family represented in the film, as well as from community authorities. These agreements outlined clear terms of participation, compensation, and rights.

Impact Campaign

As part of our commitment to continued community support, we have launched a community-driven, multi-phase impact campaign to provide essential resources to the Uru Communities on the ground, including educational supplies, food staples, and stimulus funds for family-led businesses. So far, this initiative has funded general schoolsupplies for the Uru-run educational cooperative serving these communities. Additionally, funds generated by the film were able to provide personal school supplies to children from the most economically disadvantaged families, helping to reduce educational barriers and support academic success within the community.

In early July 2025, Teo Blanco Mollo, our trusted on-the-ground partner and founder of Fundación Pueblos de Montaña, convened with Puñaca Tinta María's authorities and heads of households to design a grassroots plan for distributing sustainable development stimulus funds for family-led businesses. Their consensus, formalized in a signed "Acta de Organización Comunal Productiva," prioritized immediate food security through shared staples and long-term economic resilience through support for family-run alternatives to mining.

The breakdown of funded community initiatives includes:

• Salt Granulation Production facility restoration
• Natural Medicine Production
• Artisanship and Tourism Project, including manual crafts, handweaving, chilliwa reed art, and promotional costs
• Food Staples for All Families


The community has begun implementing these projects immediately, with production expected through late August and a promotional fair planned in either Oruro or La Paz in September. These initiatives are designed not only to improve current living conditions but to establish sustainable economic alternatives to mining labor, which has historically harmed the health, ecology, and culture of the Uru communities.

With continued support from grassroots donors and institutional partners, we will expand economic support programs to the other two Uru communities of Lake Poopó (Vilañeque and Llapallapani) and launch a food security infrastructure plan centered on expanding raised agricultural beds for quinoa, native tubers, and medicinal plants—a critical alternative for food dependency in this drought-prone region.

The implementation of this campaign was spearheaded by the logistical coordination of Florencio, an Uru authority and associate producer of the film.

Impact Campaign Photos

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Partner Organizations

Our work was conducted in partnership with established advocacy organizations that have long histories of supporting the Uru people: