Żalanasz – pusty brzeg

The Aral Sea in Central Asia is one of the most serious environmental disasters caused by humanity. One of the four largest salt lakes in the world, today it has almost disappeared, drying up as a result of reckless irrigation projects initiated by the former Soviet Union. In the images of Zhalanash, a fishing village now several kilometers from the shores of the lake, we see only the remains of a once flourishing area. Fishing boats eroded in the dusty desert, a lonely camel wanders on the horizon, while a man drives his truck on sandy roads to deliver water to the few remaining residents. An evocative landscape whose emptiness seems to be amplified, in which emerges the intense portrait of people reflecting on the hopes of the past and on the current solitude.