Waste Land
Screening
Waste Land
Video courtesy Arthouse Films
Presented in collaboration with React to Film
This screening replaces The Comedy Hall of Fame event: An Evening with Stiller and Meara which has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.
Filmed in Brazil over nearly three years, the Oscar-nominated documentary 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 the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Lucy Walker (Devil's Playground, Blindsight, Countdown To Zero) had 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. As Eric Hynes wrote in The Village Voice, “The resultant art and film are uncommonly moving, but Walker keeps an eye on the messy pile of life that looms beyond the frame.”
Free with Museum admission.
