Waste Land Screening
On March 27, Latin American and Latino Studies, Environmental Studies, and Fine Arts UDRs hosted a documentary screening of Waste Land. Students came together from all disciplines to watch the film while eating South American food.
The film is about Vik Muniz, a famous Brazilian artist who currently lives in the United States. Muniz traveled to the world’s largest landfill near Rio de Janeiro to speak with catadores, or people who pick up recyclable material from the landfill for work.
Muniz took photographs of the catadores, then worked with the catadores to make artwork in the shape of the portraits with recyclable materials. After selling photographs of the artwork, all of the money went to the catadores. With the money, they bought equipment and a truck and built a learning center and a library so that people could learn about recycling.
The movie focused on the lives of the catadores and how they were moved by the experiences of creating art from recyclable materials then seeing their portraits become famous.
The screening was followed by a discussion about the lives of the catadores, recycling, and artwork. Overall, it was a meaningful film that brought students of many different disciplines together.