Lithium Ghosts

Directed & Produced by: Nicolas Muñoz

Stage:
- Development
Locations:
- Argentina,
- Chile,
- Bolivia
Updated: May 11, 2026
Project Type:
- Short
Project Style:
- Narrative/Doc Mix,
- Personal
Theme Subject:

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Logline

To power our smartphones and EVs, the 'green' lithium boom is stripping the Argentine Andes of its water and ancient cultures. Now, a dedicated biologist and local activists face a race against time to expose this devastating trade-off and stop the destruction before it's too late.

Clips

Lithium Ghosts - Teaser_2026

Synopsis

In the high-altitude deserts of the 'Lithium Triangle,' the world is mining its way out of the climate crisis. Lithium is marketed as the holy grail of clean energy, but the paradox on the ground is brutal: to save the global climate, multinational corporations are actively draining one of the driest ecosystems on Earth. The true cost of our "green" revolution is liquid, trading irreplaceable groundwater for battery power.

Biologist Enrique Derlindati traverses these

...

Biologist Enrique Derlindati traverses these dusty roads like a detective in a crime thriller. Sleeping in the freezing wild, he is on a high-stakes mission to gather forensic evidence of this ecological collapse. Specifically, he is tracking the rapid starvation of the Andean flamingo to prove a direct, undeniable link between lithium extraction and the crashing of the region's underground water table.

Lithium Ghosts shifts the focus from geopolitical headlines to the gritty reality of frontline resistance, where science and indigenous survival intersect. The flamingo is the canary in the coal mine. Enrique’s biological data is the exact weapon that local defenders—like Ariel, a salt harvester witnessing the industrial takeover of his home, and the Urus people—desperately need to challenge the mining giants in court and in the public eye.

They share a grim, immediate reality: if the water vanishes and the flamingos die, living Indigenous communities will be the next to be permanently displaced.

By capturing this high-stakes fight with a cinematic perspective, the film becomes more than a record of loss—it is an actionable tool designed to arm local legal battles and demand corporate accountability. In our global rush toward tomorrow, Lithium Ghosts forces those fighting for a ‘green revolution’ to confront the devastating collateral damage it leaves behind.

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Background

Access & Viability

"Access is built on time, not just permits." Since my first self-funded expedition in 2022, I have cultivated a relationship of deep, mutual trust with biologist Enrique Derlindati’s scientific team and local Indigenous leaders.

...

Access & Viability

I know this high-altitude terrain intimately. In 2024, while on assignment for ARTE in Bolivia, I documented the devastating intersection of industrial mining and climate change. This body of work, titled 'Echoes of the Lake,' was recognized at the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards, further solidifying my visual and narrative commitment to the region.

My track record of delivering high-stakes environmental stories for major international broadcasters proves the project's viability:

Echoes of the Lake – Winner: Sony World Photography Awards, 2024.
Orphans from Lake Poopó – ARTE (France/Germany), 2023.
The Utopians – Barbican Museum (UK), 2022.
Plan C-14 II – Winner: Best Adventure Film, Banff Film Festival (Canada), 2018.

Why This Film Now?

Environmental documentaries often feel like cold lectures, burying the audience in data. Lithium Ghosts rejects this apathy.
We replace statistics with raw human connection.

We aren't just showing nature’s resilience; we are making the loss feel intimate.
We invite the viewer:

To be a witness, not a spectator: Standing alongside Enrique in the freezing wind.
To find meaning, not just information: Allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions through the cinematic lens.
To claim the story: Moving beyond a "cause" and into a shared human responsibility.

Project Status

Current Stage: Development, self-funded scouting and active coordination with scientific activity with Enrique D.

June – July 2026 (Pre-Production): Final logistical coordination for the "Agile Core Team." Securing updated permits and importing

scientific tracking gear.

Late August – September 2026 (Principal Photography): 25-day field production block in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. Timing captures the

critical dry season (highlighting water scarcity) and early flamingo courtship activity.

Late September – October 2026 (Post-Production & Fact-Checking): Intensive editing phase. Submission of Rough Cut for review by mid-

October.

November 2026 (Final Polish): Incorporating editorial feedback. Final color grading and immersive sound design. Picture lock.

December , 2026 (Delivery): Delivery of final, high-resolution master and all deliverables.

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Participants

Enrique Derlindati

Scientific Lead & Protagonist

Participant

Enrique Derlindati

Scientific Lead & Protagonist

Dr. Derlindati is a Professor of Conservation Biology at the National University of Salta and a member of the IUCN Flamingo Specialist Group. With over 30 years of fieldwork in the High Andes, he is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the Andean and Puna flamingos. His research, supported by organizations like WCS and BirdLife International, provides the critical ecological baseline to understand the impact of lithium extraction on wetlands. In Lithium Ghosts, Enrique acts not just as a consultant, but as the narrative guide—a "detective of the wild" racing to decode the language of the birds before their habitat is silenced forever.

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Ariel

ARIEL | The Salt Harvester

Participant

Ariel

ARIEL | The Salt Harvester

Ariel is a generational salt harvester in Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, maintaining an ancestral trade that predates modern industry. Living on the edge of the great white desert with his wife, Vanesa, and their three children, he carves his livelihood manually from the earth.
For Ariel, the salar is not a resource, but a home. Witnessing the rapid encroachment of multinational lithium mining, he has become a quiet but firm voice of concern for his community. His struggle is intimate and existential: he fights to ensure that the water—and the future of his children—does not evaporate along with the lithium.

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Andean Communities

THE ANDEAN COMMUNITIES | Guardians of the Water

Participant

Andean Communities

THE ANDEAN COMMUNITIES | Guardians of the Water

Inhabiting the high-altitude deserts of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia for millennia, the Kolla and Atacama indigenous nations are not merely residents, but integral parts of the ecosystem. To them, the salt flats are living entities, and water is the sacred blood of the earth (Pachamama). Facing the rapid industrialization of their territories for the world’s "green transition," they stand as the frontline defenders of the Puna. Their resistance is not just political, but spiritual: a fight to ensure that the global rush for lithium does not erase their ancient past, nor the fragile biodiversity they have protected for centuries.

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Style & Tone

We break the mold of the detached observer through our protagonist, Dr. Derlindati, whose philosophy anchors the film’s tone: "The data must be objective, but the scientist does not."

Guided by this raw empathy, we use hybrid storytelling to visualize industrial technology erasing organic life:

The Displaced Bird: A classical ballet dancer performs on the barren salt flat. Like the migratory flamingo, she and her art form are outsiders to this extreme landscape.

...

The Displaced Bird: A classical ballet dancer performs on the barren salt flat. Like the migratory flamingo, she and her art form are outsiders to this extreme landscape. Wearing a garment of pink feathers, she moves against the high-altitude wind. As she dances, the wind violently strips the feathers from her body, scattering them across the white expanse.

These metaphors are not just artistic flourishes; they stem from an intimate dialogue with our protagonists. They reflect not only the raw grit of the salt flats but also a pain that words cannot express.

The Ancestral Echo: Later in the film, an Indigenous salt harvester finds one of these blown-away feathers trapped in the crystallized mud. In a quiet, unscripted moment, he picks it up and weaves it into his weathered hat—a grounded, deeply local act of reclaiming the fragile life vanishing from his territory.

Objective data already floods the internet. That is why we step away from cold facts to frame the scars of the landscape—and the emotional wounds of those who defend it.

The Digital Nest: Finally, the sharp chirp of a baby flamingo echoes from a dried-out nest. But the camera reveals it’s only a cell phone notification—an artificial noise replacing the pulse of life.

Objective data already floods the internet. That is why we step away from cold facts to frame the scars of the landscape—and the emotional wounds of those who defend it. Enrique and his peers watch their life's work get buried by state apathy, forced into the agonizing role of mere witnesses to an impending collapse. For them, the true "ghosts" of the salar are the visceral sensations of nature vanishing forever.

To document this fragile world, our approach demands deep trust. This intimacy is built on collaborative consent, ensuring our protagonists retain full agency over their own image.
Ultimately, our goal is to capture the profound silence of the Puna—without silencing the voices of those fighting for it.

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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.

Director director screenplay camera creative camera project director story impact director editing film. Film producer creative story producer narrative cinema screenplay team festival director project independent cinema.

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Our Ask

WHY THIS NOW?
We are at a breaking point. While global markets celebrate the EV revolution, the Andean Puna has become a sacrifice zone. My project is entering its most critical phase: an October impact campaign designed to bridge the gap between scientific data and indigenous resistance. We are looking for the financial bridge that will allow us to capture the evidence needed to challenge the 'green' narrative before the seasonal nesting of the Andean flamingos concludes and the window for action closes.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The first major shooting campaign in the Argentine Puna, embedded with Dr. Derlindati, is currently in motion. To realize the full potential of Lithium Ghosts, we are now seeking:

Production Funding: Financial support to scale the expedition across the entire Lithium Triangle (Argentina, Chile, Bolivia). This is critical to cover complex cross-border logistics, 4x4 rentals, and the purchase of satellite trackers to generate groundbreaking migration data for the film.
Strategic Partnerships: We are actively looking for co-producers, impact producers, and distribution allies.

If we do not secure the full budget, we will trigger a scalable contingency plan: we will embed ourselves directly with the scientific team with a minimum agile crew.

AUDIENCE STRATEGY

The Transmedia

Beyond a 90-minute film, we are building a cross-media loop. We will release native vertical micro-docs (TikTok/Reels) and a companion podcast to capture younger audiences and build community.

The "Glocal" Approach

A local story with a global soul. We will cultivate a strong Spanish-speaking community first through regional LATAM co-productions, forging strategic alliances with NGOs and eco-conscious brands.

Global Hybrid Route
By building an "owned audience" from day one, we bypass the need for massive marketing budgets.

We are seeking:

Funding,
Co-Production Partners,
International Co-Production,
Sales Agent,
Broadcast Partner

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Lithium Ghosts

Logline

Clips

Participants

Enrique Derlindati

Enrique Derlindati

Ariel

Ariel

Andean Communities

Andean Communities

Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Nicolas Muñoz

Juliette Igier

Juliette Igier

Diana Cervantes

Diana Cervantes

Madeline Finkel

Madeline Finkel

Budget

Stills

Our Ask