Filmed over nearly three years, Waste Land, winner of the World Cinema Audience Award for Documentary at Sundance, 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, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of catadores - 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 dignity and despair as the catadores begin to re-imagine their lives. Walker (Devil's Playground, Blindsight - SFF07) has 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.

Australian Premiere

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