Lithium Ghosts

Directed & Produced by: Nicolas Muñoz

Stage:
- Development
Locations:
- Argentina,
- Chile,
- Bolivia
Updated: April 7, 2026
Project Type:
- Short
Project Style:
- Narrative/Doc Mix,
- Personal
Theme Subject:

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Logline

The green transition is already happening—but for the species and ancient cultures atop "the lithium triangle", it threatens extinction rather than salvation. Traversing the vanishing wetlands of the Andes, a biologist investigates the silent disappearance of flamingo populations, proving that the booming lithium industry is turning a sacred ecosystem and its indigenous culture into a ghost towns.

Clips

Lithium Ghosts - Teaser

Synopsis

In the high-altitude deserts of Argentina’s "Lithium Triangle," the world is mining its way out of the climate crisis. Lithium offers a beacon of hope for renewable energy, yet this global solution demands a devastating local sacrifice: the erasure of Water and Culture.

Here, a biologist traverses dusty roads like a detective in a crime thriller. Sleeping in the freezing wild and tracking faint biological clues, he is on a mission to decipher the evidence of a silent

...

Lithium Ghosts shifts the focus from geopolitical headlines to the gritty reality of frontline resistance. While the scientist gathers forensic data, Ariel, a salt harvester, tries to comprehend the daily industrial changes transforming his ancestral landscape. Meanwhile, the Urus people observe in silence, forced to adapt to a future that has already arrived. They all share a grim truth:

if the water vanishes and the flamingos starve, ancient human cultures will inevitably share their fate.

Crouched like hunters alongside the camera, the audience tracks these last protectors—the scientist, the salt harvester, and the Urus—in a desperate attempt to both survive and raise awareness.

In our global rush toward tomorrow, we are forced to look at exactly what we are leaving behind.

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Background

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Film story narrative creative independent team doc cinema award editing festival cinema team narrative. Producer camera creative team doc team project story team festival award narrative festival journey award independent.

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Participants

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Style & Tone

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Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Director & Producer

Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Director & Producer

Nicolás Muñoz Documentary Filmmaker & DOP | Buenos Aires, Argentina He studied photography and cinematography at ORT schools, later specializing in documentary filmmaking at INA (France), and honing his craft at UBA (Argentina) and Maine Media College (USA). At age 24, after graduating from film school, he began a 13-year career as a correspondent for Associated Press Television. Covering breaking news across Latin America and beyond, Muñoz reported from extraordinary places and captured urgent, human-centered stories. In 2014, with two young children, he made the difficult decision to leave the news world—stepping away from a stable path into one that was more uncertain, especially financially. He shifted his focus from news to longform documentary work, channeling his journalistic experience into a visual storytelling style that blends strong imagery, emotion, and narrative clarity—even in complex or sensitive environments. In 2018, he won Best Adventure Film at the Banff Film Festival in Canada. Since then, his work has continued to evolve across formats and platforms, earning recognition such as the Sony World Photography Award in 2024 and becoming a Sony Alpha Partner. Today, he collaborates with NGOs, broadcasters, and institutions to tell grounded, human-centered stories with lasting impact. His work explores the intersections of social justice, environmental crisis, and resilience. With a deeply personal approach and a collaborative mindset, Muñoz often works directly with communities to amplify their voices and build powerful narratives from the ground up.

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Juliette Igier

Field Producer & Investigative Journalist

Team

Juliette Igier

Field Producer & Investigative Journalist

A distinguished journalist and filmmaker with decades of experience covering social and environmental justice across Argentina and Latin America. Juliette has a proven track record of bringing complex, high-stakes investigations to international audiences. She previously work together with Nico Muñoz on the acclaimed documentary Orphans of Lake Poopó (Orphelins du lac Poopó) for ARTE France, a project that showcased her ability to blend rigorous journalism with compelling human narratives. With a deep-rooted understanding of the region’s socio-political landscape, Juliette provides critical investigative depth and a bridge to major European broadcasters for Lithium Ghosts.

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Diana Cervantes

Impact & Transmedia Producer

Team

Diana Cervantes

Impact & Transmedia Producer

Award-winning visual journalist (New York/New Mexico) specializing in science-based stories and interspecies relationships. Her work, recognized by the New Mexico Press Association, bridges the gap between hard data and storytelling. Diana will lead the Podcast component and scientific reportage.

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Madeline Finkel

Story Editor & Creative Consultant

Team

Madeline Finkel

Story Editor & Creative Consultant

I am a writer, artist, and filmmaker based in New York currently completing my MFA in Film at NYU Tisch. As a Fulbright scholar to Argentina in 2019, I directed my first documentary. My most recent work was recognized by the British Council for the Arts and One World Media which named her one of "14 filmmakers to watch." She has produced work for ARTEtv, NOWNESS, the Barbican Centre London, and others.

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Budget

This section includes information about this project.

Impact editing independent award team impact doc producer camera story narrative cinema award film screenplay visual. Team journey screenplay screenplay impact project visual narrative doc festival.

Stills

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Industry decision makers (such as funders, sales agents, distributors, commissioning editors, newsrooms and media organizations) may register to view project details that are not visible to the general public.
🔒 Industry Only
Industry decision makers (such as funders, sales agents, distributors, commissioning editors, newsrooms and media organizations) may register to view project details that are not visible to the general public.
🔒 Industry Only
Industry decision makers (such as funders, sales agents, distributors, commissioning editors, newsrooms and media organizations) may register to view project details that are not visible to the general public.
🔒 Industry Only
Industry decision makers (such as funders, sales agents, distributors, commissioning editors, newsrooms and media organizations) may register to view project details that are not visible to the general public.
🔒 Industry Only
Industry decision makers (such as funders, sales agents, distributors, commissioning editors, newsrooms and media organizations) may register to view project details that are not visible to the general public.

Our Ask

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Story screenplay film producer independent award team camera production production screenplay narrative creative impact. Story production story cinema doc production story narrative camera editing production award film film.

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Lithium Ghosts

Logline

Clips

Participants

Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Nicolas Muñoz

Juliette Igier

Juliette Igier

Diana Cervantes

Diana Cervantes

Madeline Finkel

Madeline Finkel

Budget

Stills

Our Ask