True/False Films

Waste Land

In person: director Lucy Walker

Acclaimed British director Lucy Walker (who documented Amish teens in The Devil's Playground) follows successful artist Vik Muniz as he travels from his Brooklyn workshop to the world's largest landfill, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he begins a collaborative project with some of the denizens of the dump. As the film goes deeper, we learn the stories of those who work (and sometimes live) with the waste of others. Moving gracefully from starkly beautiful scenes at the landfill (scored by Moby) to Muniz's workshop, where the trash art comes to life, Waste Land is a film that strips away our preconceptions about the nature of art and reminds us of the power of dignity and a sense of purpose. (DW)

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