Waste Land

Amid the bleak surroundings of Brazil's Jardim Gramacho, the biggest landfill in the world, Lucy Walker's Waste Land finds an inspiring true story. Her documentary follows artist Vik Muniz as he embarks upon an ambitious project, recruiting a number of 'pickers' from the site and creating huge portraits of them from discarded materials. It's fascinating to watch this project gradually develop, but the real power of Waste Land exists in the characters Walker and Muniz find toiling away among mountains of garbage. The film really makes us care about the likes of Tiaõ, the charismatic head of the pickers' association, or Isis, a heartbroken woman whose life has been marked by tragedy, and the fact that we become so involved in their stories gives Waste Land an extraordinary emotional resonance. Pedro Kos' editing balances these stories expertly and develops an absorbing narrative, while Moby provides a fine musical score. Waste Land is a deeply moving and genuinely uplifting experience, and an irresistible ode to the transformative power of art.

 

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.