Waste Land
- Wednesday, July 20, 2011 / 7:00 PM (PDT)
- Pollock Theater
- With Lucy Walker (director)
Oscar-nominated film Waste Land follows artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home 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”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s 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. Director Lucy Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight, and Countdown to Zero) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.
Film screening followed by a Q&A with Waste Land director Lucy Walker and a Brazilian-themed reception with food, music and local environmental artists Laura Lynch and Holly MacKay creating art from marine debris and recycled materials.
Sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center’s Environmental Media Initiative, UCSB Summer Sessions, and Santa Barbara’s Art from Scrap.
Many thanks to our community partner the Annual Santa Barbara Brazilian “Carnaval Cultural” and our media partner SoulBrasil Magazine.
CWC Docs
The Carsey-Wolf Center is committed to screening documentaries from across the world that engage with contemporary and historical issues, especially regarding social justice and environmental concerns. Documentaries allow filmmakers to address pressing issues and frame the critical debates of our time.