Waste Land
Director : Lucy Walker
Country : UK / Brazil
Release Date : 2010
Duration : 100 mins
Language : Portuguese
Subtitles : Yes
Award-winning documentary following internationally-successful Brazilian artist Vik Muniz as he leaves his New York studio and travels to Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest landfill site, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he meets the ‘catadores’ (‘pickers’) who make their living by collecting and selling recyclable materials such as bottles, plastic and metal from the landfill. In a bid to raise funds for the site workers’ association, Muniz selects a group of six catadores to pose as subjects for a new series of artworks made from ‘garbage’ and puts them up for sale in one of Rio’s most upmarket galleries.
“An uplifting portrait of the power of art and the dignity of the human spirit.” (Rotten Tomatoes website)