Link of the day - Waste Land

We watched another art documentary nominated for an academy award this weekend! Waste Land is about contemporary artist Vik Muniz who creates his imagery out of unconventional materials. (chocolate, cotton, sugar, etc..) The film documents his journey to return to his home in Brazil and work with the garbage pickers of one of the worlds largest landfills, in Rio de Janeiro. With their help, he creates their portraits out of the garbage they collect, and inexorably they change one anothers lives.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did. The work he does is interesting, the story of these workers is compelling, and the relationships they create can be really touching at times - that said, the whole movie can felt a little flat and the pace is rather slow.

I still recommend it, but I wish I hadn't had "academy" level expectations when I watched it.