The Team
The people behind the documentary short film and its impact campaigns.
Gastón Zilberman co-director
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 co-director
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 assoc. producer
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 co-producer
Jordan Salama is a writer and producer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, and other publications. His investigative journalism focuses on the intersections of culture, environment, and migration. Jordan is the founder of Red House Productions and a co-producer of Qotzuñi.
Jordan's work can be found at jordansalama.com
Elena Fortes Executive Producer
Elena Fortes is an award-winning producer and cultural strategist with over 15 years of experience developing and championing bold nonfiction storytelling in Mexico City. She co-founded and directed AMBULANTE, Latin America’s largest touring documentary festival, and later co-founded NO FICCIÓN, producing acclaimed films including Midnight Family, Vivos, and A Cop Movie. In 2024, she founded FIASCO, a boutique studio dedicated to creative freedom and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Douglas Blush Executive Producer
Douglas Blush is an award-winning documentary director, producer, editor, cinematographer and co-owner of Los Angeles-based MadPix Films. His credits as editor include the Oscar and ACE Eddie Award-winning "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013), as editor and executive producer, the Oscar-winning documentary short "The Elephant Whisperers" (2022), and, as consulting producer and editor, the Oscar-winning "Icarus" (2017). Other credits include: "The Hunting Ground" (2015, editor and associate producer); "The Invisible War" (2012, editor and associate producer); "Skid Row Marathon" (2017, producer); "Wordplay" (2006, editor); "Superheroes" (2011, editor and executive producer); and more than 100 feature and television documentary projects.
Teodoro Blanco local impact coordinator
Teo Blanco Mollo is lawyer, engineer, and community leader in the Aymara Nation of Oruro, Bolivia. He founded Fundación de Pueblos de Montaña y Derechos Ambientales and is a nationally renowned expert in community-based environmental advocacy in Bolivia. He served as the director of the Parque Nacional Sajama and ran operations in the Parque Nacional Toro Toro, among other positions.
Bonnie Abaunza impact producer
Bonnie Abaunza has dedicated her life to humanitarian work, human rights, and social justice advocacy. Her work has addressed myriad human rights and civil rights issues as she has brought hard-hitting campaigns and major celebrity engagement to issues as diverse as child slavery, campus sexual assault, human trafficking, genocide, racial and environmental justice, girls' education, food safety and animal rights.
Kathleen Rodgers impact producer
Kathleen Rodgers is a social impact producer and strategist in the human rights and social justice sector, working across issues such as global health, international human rights, poverty alleviation, women's rights, gender and racial equality, and education reform, among others.
Violeta Casabal social media impact
Violeta Casabal is an integrated design specialist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Studying in Di Tella University, she manages the film's online presence and global reach via social media.