Most people see a landfill and think trash. These workers turned garbage into art that sold around the world.
Shout out to Tim Ferriss for putting this documentary on our radar.
Trailer for “Waste Land”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Artist Vik Muniz spent three years working with garbage pickers at the world’s largest landfill. They created enormous portraits made from trash collected by the workers.
- The finished portraits were sold at major art auctions, transforming people who sorted garbage for a living into subjects of internationally celebrated artwork.
Watch “Waste Land”
You can watch “Waste Land” on Prime Video and Kanopy.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 93/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 90/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Release Date: October 8, 2010
Director’s Note: Directed by Lucy Walker, João Jardim, and Karen Harley. Walker has built a strong documentary résumé that includes “The Crash Reel” and “Countdown to Zero.”
Other Unique Stuff from the Doc
- Jardim Gramacho closed in 2012, just two years after the film’s release. As a result, the documentary became one of the last major visual records of a place that employed thousands of catadores and processed much of Rio de Janeiro’s garbage.
- Tião Santos, one of the landfill workers featured in the film, was running the workers’ association, reading philosophy books, and fighting for better conditions and respect for thousands of catadores who were often invisible to the rest of society.
Wrap Up:
“Waste Land” turns a landfill into one of the most inspiring places you’ll ever see in a documentary.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc