Filmmakers

The Filmmakers

A documentary short by Gastón Zilberman and Michael Salama

Gastón Zilberman

Gastón Zilberman is a social and environmental storyteller based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His projects aim to create empathy and awareness about the consequences of climate change and human overdevelopment, especially with communities in South America. His work has been published in National Geographic, and in the Sony World Photography Awards 2024, among others.

Gastón's work can be found at gastonzilberman.com
Contact: gastonzil@gmail.com

Michael Salama

Michael Salama is a multimedia producer from New York. His documentary research focuses on the historical and contemporary issues of equal freshwater access in arid regions across the Americas. His work has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Sustainability, The Princeton Historical Review, and covered on the front page of Argentina's La Nación. Qotzuñi, created as part of an award-winning undergraduate thesis at Princeton University, is his first production credit.

Fluid Identities: The Hydrosocial History of the Uru Communities of Lake Poopó is the thesis written in tandem with this film.

Contact: michaelsalama19@gmail.com

Florencio Inocente Aguilar

Florencio Inocente Aguilar is the Mallku Qota (maximum authority) of the Uru communities of Lake Poopó. As an associate producer of QOTZUÑI, he managed the film's ethical and cooperative production. He currently serves as the on-the-ground impact campaign coordinator, working directly with Uru families and participants to ensure that the film's material impact is maximized.

Jordan Salama

Jordan Salama is the founder of Red House Productions and an associate producer of QOTZUÑI.