Waste Land (film)
Encyclopedia
Waste Land is a 2010 documentary directed by Lucy Walker, João Jardim and Karen Harley. The film documents two years of work of Brazilian contemporary modern art
ist Vik Muniz
in creating art with the cooperation of scavengers of recyclables working at Jardim Gramacho, one of the world's largest landfill
s, serving the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro
in Brazil
.
Together with people employed to pick out recyclable material
from garbage, Muniz creates from actual landfill trash large-scale mosaic portraits that are sold at art auctions in London and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
in São Paulo
.
The film portrays the lives of the garbage pickers and their working conditions as well as Muniz's efforts to help them to gain recognition and better living conditions.
Original title: Lixo Extraordinário (Portuguese
for extraordinary garbage).
as of September 2011.
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
ist Vik Muniz
Vik Muniz
Vicente José de Oliveira Muniz, known as Vik Muniz , is a visual artist living in New York City.-Early career:Muniz began his career as a sculptor in the late 1980s after relocating from Brazil to Chicago and later to New York. His early work grew out of a post-Fluxus aesthetic and often involved...
in creating art with the cooperation of scavengers of recyclables working at Jardim Gramacho, one of the world's largest landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
s, serving the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Together with people employed to pick out recyclable material
Material
Material is anything made of matter, constituted of one or more substances. Wood, cement, hydrogen, air and water are all examples of materials. Sometimes the term "material" is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties that are used as inputs to...
from garbage, Muniz creates from actual landfill trash large-scale mosaic portraits that are sold at art auctions in London and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art
São Paulo Museum of Modern Art
The São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, , is located in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo....
in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
.
The film portrays the lives of the garbage pickers and their working conditions as well as Muniz's efforts to help them to gain recognition and better living conditions.
Original title: Lixo Extraordinário (Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
for extraordinary garbage).
Reception
The film received critical acclaim, holding an 100% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
as of September 2011.
Awards
- Received on January 30, 2010 the audience award for best international documentary at Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. - Received on February 20, 2010 awards from Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and the public in the Panorama at the Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
. - On January 25, 2011, received the Academy Award83rd Academy AwardsThe 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...
nomination for best feature documentary.
See also
- ACAMJGACAMJGAssociação dos Catadores do Aterro Metropolitano de Jardim Gramacho is an organization of "pickers" who sort through garbage finding recyclables as a means of survival. The association is led by president Tião Santos, and based in the landfill Jardim Gramacho, outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...
, the association of recyclables pickers of Jardim Gramacho. - Jacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis DavidJacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
's 1793 painting Death of Marat - Agnes VardaAgnès VardaAgnès Varda is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style....
's 2000 documentary The Gleaners and IThe Gleaners and IThe Gleaners and I is a French documentary by Agnès Varda that features various kinds of gleaning. It was entered into competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival , and later went on to earn awards around the world.... - Contemporary artContemporary artContemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
External links
- Independent Lens on PBS
- Waste Land at Independent LensIndependent LensAiring weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
on PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia.... - Waste Land at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...