Daughter of the Lake

At the height of the Peruvian gold rush, Nelida, an Andean woman able to communicate with water spirits, uses her powers to prevent a mining corporation from destroying the body of water she considers her mother.
A gold deposit valued at billions of dollars lies just beneath Nelida’s lakes and leads farmers and Latin America’s biggest gold producer into conflict.

In celebration of Earth Day, Tilde Filmklubb and VEGA Scene present this important documentary that depicts the war over water taking place between small communities and large-scale mining companies.

After the film we will have conversation with David R. Goyes. Researcher at Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law (UiO). He has contributed extensively to the study of North-South global relations, environmental conflicts, and Indigenous issues. Goyes is editor of the International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy. His main lines of research are, among others; Animal Rights; Environmental Conflicts in the Global South and Indigenous Issues. His first sole-authored book, "Southern Green Criminology" was published in 2019, in which he focuses on the conflicts that arise in the interaction between human beings and our natural environment, seen from a Southern perspective.

Beneath the Conga lakes lies Latin America's largest gold deposit, which is valued at billions of US dollars. The Yanacocha mining company with the Peruvian government's support aimed to mine the deposit, even though it means drying out and contaminating the lakes.

Farmers who live downstream opposed the project, because they fear running out of water. The police killed five men during the protests and others have been severely beaten and criminalized, including farmer and activist Máxima Acuña.

The proposed mine has also pitted those who want mining jobs against those who rely on the land for their livelihoods through farming. Farmers not only have to confront the political and economic powers, but also the people in their own communities who now depend on the small jobs the mine has given them.