Just this past Saturday I saw Waste Land. Wow.

At the risk of over-inflating the expectations of those who haven’t seen the film yet, I will give you my impression. Think of a documentary that touches the very soul and conveys heartfelt human emotion. Without shame, many a tear swelled up in my eyes and my heart was inspired over and over again while watching the film.

The details:

The Tagline: “What happens in the world’s largest trash city will transform you.”

Genre: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International

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” — or 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 dignity and despair as the catadores begin to re-imagine their lives. Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight) 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.– (C) Official Site

Extra Goodies: The music is by none other than Moby, using his own style to fuse a Brazilian aesthetic with Philip Glass. Also the distributor has a wicked name: Art House films, those guys did well with their name for sure.

At first when I saw the trailer, I felt as if this was going to be a film with that neo-colonial edge. The “white man’s guilt let’s save the poor black folk natives from their wretched despair of our cruel modern society.” You know, that classic paradigm that runs wild in Hollywood & the world. And while there is no denying an element of this, the sincere honesty of the film, its subjects, and its producers makes this an accepted, yet almost nullified, element.

Visual Artist Vik Muniz, the initial idea & creativity behind Waste Land

Vik Muniz is a modern artist who makes high-end art out of everything (like all good artists nowadays). He recognizes that his privileged position in the art world as being the result of a series of lucky events that combined with his incredible artistic talent. He is known for his exploration of class injustice in his art pieces and his use of garbage.

Jardim Gramacho landfill, Rio de Janeiro

Jardim Gramacho, the location of our story is the literal ‘end of the line,’ where all that is ‘bad’ in the urban paradise of Rio de Janeiro ends up. Despite this, you see the pride of the people who work there. The unending courage, and the very real, often-humiliating challenges they endure.

You meet people who work, and basically live in, the dump. These people are ‘catadores,’ scavengers or pickers of recyclable materials. They weigh the materials and get paid according to the commodity market rate for the material; X price for PCV, X price for PET; if X material needs shredding this price, if not that price etc…

The workspace where the photos are projected and then elaborated, formed and detailed using garbage and recycled materials.

In the last years a political consciousness has developed among people who work in the dump. Sebastiao Carlos Dos Santos is a leader of the Catadores union, the Associação de Catadores do Jardim Gramacho, RJ. Vik Muniz, and presumably the whole production team, is taken by  his convictions as an articulate leader. He understands the potential of the people in the dump and understands their lives, their aspirations, and their pride. He becomes a guide for Vik Muniz, the film team, and the audience.

Sebastiao Carlos Dos Santos, of the Associação de Catadores do Jardim Gramacho, posing as the Machiavelli of the dump

The work in progress

The final product. This piece sold at a London Art show for £50 000.

The problematic nature of the ‘rich white artist’ ‘exploiting’ the poor ‘garbage’ scavenger is evident. Vik keeps trying to convince us that he grew up ‘poor’ although we quickly realize (as he himself does by the end of the movie) that ‘poor’ white in São Paulo, his native city, and totally impoverished and black in Rio are two very different things. When confronted as to the potential false aspirations he may be giving people, he defends his idea of using the catadores from Jardim Gramacho in his art project. They are hired as catadores, and production assistants. They are used as subjects in the art, and all the proceeds of the sale of the works goes back to the Associação de Catadores do Jardim Gramacho.

The trade-off, for the team, is the film.  The results are incredible, heartfelt and undoubtably positive. So summing up, see the movie! This level of inspiration should be daily. I take off my hat to Vik Muniz for his vision and initiative, to the catadores of Jardim Gramacho, director Lucy Walker and to the rest of the film team.

Alex Bordokas