The documentary feature Nueva Venecia portrays the inhabitants of a small village in the Santa Marta marsh in Colombia, who live on the water and make a living by fishing. Their lives changed drastically on November 22, 2000, when a paramilitary group slaughtered 37 people and forced the other villagers to move out. In spite of the horror and the possibility of further acts of violence, the community eventually returned, choosing to face the hazards of new assaults rather than quit their way of life. Things did change, however, as fishing-boat memorials and ceremonies to honor the dead have become familiar, as have constant pleas to the authorities for justice. Something else keeps people together: soccer, played again on the field built on stilts, long hidden under water. Sport provides the only hope for a way out for many of the local youngsters, who dream of both social and economic improvement, and of being discovered by some scout or club agent to become Colombian soccer stars.