Óscar Catacora (1987–2021) was a self-taught Peruvian filmmaker from Acora, in the Puno region of the Andes. A member of the Huaychani Aymara community, he grew up in the countryside with his grandparents, who taught him the Aymara language and shaped his deep connection to Indigenous Andean life.

He began making films as a teenager. At 19, he wrote, directed, and starred in the medium-length action-thriller El sendero del chulo (2007), which screened regionally in Puno, Juliaca, and Arequipa. After brief studies in theater and social communication at the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, he focused on audiovisual work. In 2013, he scripted the genre film La venganza del Súper Cholo and won a 400,000-sol grant from Peru’s Ministry of Culture for his feature debut, Eternity (2017).

This landmark film—the first Peruvian feature shot entirely in Aymara—portrays an elderly couple abandoned at 5,000 meters above sea level. It drew from Catacora’s own childhood and earned Best First Film and Best Cinematography at Guadalajara, plus Peru’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature. He also shot the documentary Pakucha (directed by his uncle Tito Catacora) and Aventura sangrienta (2017).

Catacora died at 34 from appendicitis while filming his second feature, Yana-Wara (2023), in Collao Province. His uncle Tito completed it posthumously. It became Peru’s Oscar and Goya entry, cementing Óscar’s legacy in regional Indigenous cinema.