Dust follows the struggle for survival in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi salt pans over a year of flood and drought, anchored by Africa’s longest terrestrial zebra migration. At the heart of the story lies the Boteti River, where water rarely lasts but life depends on its arrival.
As floodwaters from Angola travel south, the Boteti swells into a narrow lifeline. Elephants, hippos, zebra and wildebeest gather along its banks, while lions, cheetahs, jackals and elusive brown hyenas follow their every move. But as the heat intensifies, the river shrinks and grass turns to dust. Animals crowd muddy wallows and dwindling pools, where competition grows and a single misstep can prove fatal.
When the water finally retreats into the sand, thousands of zebra face a brutal choice: stay and starve or follow distant storm clouds into the Makgadikgadi. Their journey opens a window onto the desert’s permanent residents, from meerkats standing sentry at dawn to brown hyenas surviving on scraps.
Then rain transforms the salt pans. Shallow water draws tens of thousands of flamingos, and green grass spreads across a landscape that seemed lifeless. For a brief moment, abundance returns. Yet the reprieve cannot last. As the heat rises and the water vanishes, the herds must move once more.
Filmed with striking cinematography, Dust captures the shifting balance between abundance and starvation, revealing the resilience of wildlife in a landscape shaped by water, heat and relentless change.