Waste Land (1:38) 2010

This documentary follows Vik Muniz for the three years he worked at the world's largest landfill photographing "catadores" or recyclers. Jardim Gramacho is located outside Rio de Janeiro and the recyclers living in the favelas work there trying to eke out a living. While Vik was photographing the workers, he decided to change his original project and took about a half dozen workers back to his studio. Vik got to know each of them well and became emotionally involved in helping them better their lives. Muniz took individual portraits of each of the chosen workers and then transformed the enlarged photos with recycled materials. The transformations were the most interesting part of this documentary. The works of art have been displayed in museums around the world. In the process, each recycler's life was also transformed for the better. This is not an easy documentary to explain. There are many scenes of workers picking through the garbage and that gets old fast. When the workers are brought to the studio and the audience learns about their lives it becomes riveting. I highly recommend this documentary. Stay with it, the ending has one of the most uplifting films I've seen in awhile.