Waste Land [DVD] [2010]

Filmed over nearly 3 years this documentary 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, Jardin Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de HJaneiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores", self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz's initial onjective 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; Countown 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.