Waste Land

Directed by Lucy Walker

Website: wastelandmovie.com
Facebook: facebook.com/WasteLandMovie

Synopsis: Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores” – self designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

Film Presence is working with Art House films to raise awareness about WASTE LAND by fostering partnerships with a wide variety of groups, from Waste Management Organizations to Brazilian Cultural Institutions and everything in between. Film Presence will replicate WASTE LAND’s unique intersection of themes, cultures, issues, stories, lives and worlds at the theater by curating panels and finding mutually nourishing partnerships with organizations that share goals and ideals with those conveyed in WASTE LAND.