Title: Wasteland
Grade Range: 9th-12th grade
Duration: 99 minutes
Subject Areas: Art/Art History; Social Studies; International Studies; Sociology; Gender Studies; Environmental Science; Geopolitics
ABOUT THE MOVIE
Wasteland follows artist Vik Muniz as he journeys to his native Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump. There, he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”- or, pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these individuals as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and the despair of these characters face as they begin to reimagine their lives. It is a film that captures stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.
