Waste Land
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 and COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit. 2011 Academy Award Nominee, winner of the Audience Award World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2010.
Discussion to follow with Tiaõ (Sebastiao Carlos dos Santos), President of ACAMJG (the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho, Brazil, who is featured in the film. Also with Martin Medina, Advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative project on recycling sector in developing countries. Moderated by Paulo Moreira, Assistant Professor of Spanish & Portuguese at Yale.
About Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker uses dramatic filmmaking techniques to make documentary films, following memorable characters on transformative journeys that grant unique access inside closed worlds. Walker's films include DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT and COUNTDOWN TO ZERO. Walker's credits also include Nickelodeon's "Blue's Clues," for which she was twice nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Direction in a Children's Series, and several award-winning narrative short films. Walker grew up in London, England, won a Fulbright Scholarship to attend New York University's Graduate Film Program, where she earned her MFA.
Preceded by: Life in a Land Fill
1 minute. DIrected by Jack Quinn. An artistic take on the odds and ends found in a landfill.
WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.
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SCREENING TIMES
Monday, March 28th, 7:00pmWhitney Humanities Center
Genre: Documentary
Year: 2010
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Website: www.wastelandmovie.com
Director: Lucy Walker
Co-directors: Co-directed by João Jardim and Karen Harley
Producers: Angus Aynsley, Hank Levine
Co-Producer: Peter Martin
Editor: Pedro Kos
Director of Photography: Dudu Miranda
Executive Producers: Fernando Meirelles, Miel de Botton Aynsley, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Jackie de Botton
2011 Films & Events
· African Cats
· Bag It
· Connected
· EFFY After Dark 2011
· Filmmaking Workshop with Ian Cheney
· If A Tree Falls
· Journey of the Universe
· Queen of the Sun
· Short Films
· The City Dark
· Waste Land
· YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip