Creating art out of trash is not a new idea; however, creating art from trash of people, with people,who so happen to be garbage pickers themselves, proves to not only be an intriguing narrative, but a transformative experience. This is the story of Waste Land.
Waste Land debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, where a few of us were able to see its premiere and subsequent Audience Award win for World Cinema Documentary. This compelling story emerged after Director Lucy Walker stumbled upon the opportunity to follow renown Brazillian artist Vik Muniz on a two year experimental project at the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, just outside of Rio de Janeiro. Muniz had been sitting on the idea of doing a collaborative art project with a group of “catadores” -- a self-designated collective of “pickers” for recyclable materials at the dump. As both Walker (and Muniz) follow the lives of this group and invite them into the act of creating, we see perspectives shift.
Ultimately, Waste Land is a captivating story about poverty, art, and the beauty of humanity. In fact, the (common) notion of beauty is completely challenged by the shear idea of welcoming art into the realities of a community seen as appalling and worthless by the outside.
Throughout the doc, you’ll find questions of art’s nature, it’s place amongst all people, and the inspiration it brings to (seemingly) hopeless situations. It is no surprise that Waste Land got its Oscar nomination in 2010. It certainly was a Top 5 film for myself.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNlwh8vT2NU
Read more http://rednow.com/blogs/intothedark/documentary/waste-land/
