Huaquero

On the northern coast of Ecuador, on Tolita Island, dozens of Afro-Ecuadorian children gather on the beach to collect Pre-Colombian artifacts that are scattered across the sand. They are all searching through the debris for pieces that they can somehow fix and sell to tourists on the mainland. Washo, a fifty-year-old unemployed fisherman, watches the children at their work while he recovers from a hangover. His fractured relationship with his daughter Yessica (6 years old) creates a distance between them. He leaves her with his ex-wife, who is upset with him for his irresponsibility as father. In the tropical heat of the night, Washo tries to fit the pieces of a clay figure back together like a puzzle. The scant catch of the season and the poor sales from his coconut grove only earn him enough to buy a bottle of moonshine and go out to the town's only bar on the makeshift docks, where the lights flicker thanks to the shortage of electricity. The alcohol and the precariousness of his life bring out his violent personality, which ends up permanently damaging his relationship with his daughter's mother. The sound of the waves breaking on the rocks of Isla DE la Plata (Silver Island) merges with the sounds of a boat from which Joselito (60 years old) descends. He is a native of the Ecuadorian coast and is dealing with the disappointment of the huaqueros (tomb raiders) who are complaining about the lack of results; they haven't found anything in the place where he suggested they excavate. Upon returning to the mainland, we can see how Joselito's museum has been destroyed by the recent earthquake. His brother urges him to sell all of his artifacts; thanks to the earthquake they need to rebuild their house and take care of their sick mother. But he refuses, confident that they will be able to find more pieces to sell. Excavating in another rural area of Valdivia, surrounded by a thick dry forest, an unexpected accident traps one of the huaqueros underground, and he suffocates to death. Impacted by the loss and limited by his lack of resources, Joselito sells off everything in his museum to a business magnate in the big city. After the deal is done, in which he practically has to give away his most valuable pieces for a laughable sum, he wanders through the city feeling lost, watching a backhoe digging a giant hole to build a new building. The trees begin to thin out in the arid landscape of Sipán, in northern Peru. Filo (50 year old) is talking to his lawyer who,