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The Wind's Thirst film image; mother and child holding hands overlooking a lake

The Wind's Thirst

La Sed del viento

Insights

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North American Premiere

In Colombia’s La Guajira desert, three Wayuu guardians are fighting to protect their ancestral land, water, and spiritual traditions. When a reservoir promised to local communities was instead diverted to serve a polluting mine, it removed access to drinking water; now, wind-energy companies are claiming vast areas of Wayuu territory, erecting wind farms on sacred burial grounds and offering little in return. Against this backdrop of corporate exploitation and broken government promises, the Wayuu are once again being asked to sacrifice their land and traditions for someone else’s future.

Made with profound artistic sensitivity, The Wind’s Thirst documents the Wayuu community members, weaving together their intimate testimonies and poetic stories with striking images of La Guajira. While painfully specific, the film reveals a universal pattern of the promise of progress, as Indigenous communities fight to protect what has sustained them for generations. Ultimately, The Wind’s Thirst is about endurance and imagining a future for the Wayuu on their land: “Governments come and go, but we will always be here.”

 

Media Partner

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/Colombia

Year

2026

Language

In Wayunaiikii and Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+

At VIFF Centre

19+

At Fifth Ave

86 min
Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice Indigenous Cinema
Curare Films

Book Tickets

Thursday October 08

8:45 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only
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Friday October 09

1:45 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Credits & Director

Producer

Alejandro Valbuena

Screenwriter

Alejandro Valbuena

Cinematography

Alejandro Valbuena

Editor

Federico Casteñada

Original Music

Andres Galindo

Alejandro Valbuena headshot

Alejandro Valbuena

Alejandro Valbuena is an Arawak filmmaker working across fiction and documentary, and his films explore communities the industry has never looked at. His debut documentary, The Wind’s Thirst (2026), was shot over five years inside the Wayuu community of La Guajira; it premiered at Sheffield DocFest 2026, won the Hot Docs Breakthrough Pitch, and travelled through Cannes Docs, Docs Barcelona, and Eurodoc. His fiction feature Carnarium received a Telefilm Springboard invitation. He is an EFM Toolbox, Eurodoc, and DOC alumnus.

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