Santa Barbara International Film Festival

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 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.

Directed by Lucy Walker
Co
-
directed by João Jardim
and
Karen Harley
**WINNER
–
IDA Best Documentary 2010**
**WINNER
—
IDA Pare Lorentz Award 2010**
**Audience Award World Cinema Documentary
–
Sundance Film Festival 2010**
**Panorama Audience Award
–
Berlin Film Festival 2010**
**Amnesty International Film Award
–
Berlin Film Festival 2010**
**
Audience Award for Best Documentary
–
IDFA
2010**