With the Oscars coming up this weekend, I wanted to make sure you’re all in the loop about the one Brazilian candidate, which is nominated for Best Documentary. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the movie which I’ve seen multiple times and written about for a long time, so I wanted to share the info with all of you!

Waste Land, or Lixo Extraordinário in Portuguese, is a UK-Brazil co-production that follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz as he embarks on an ambitious project that combines art and social development. He works with a group of catadores, or trash pickers, in one of the largest landfills in Latin America. They use recyclable materials to recreate photographs of themselves, photographs based on famous works of art, which are then photographed from above and turned into their own works of art.  It’s a movie about transformation, not only the transformative power of art but also how people can be transformed. It can sound a bit confusing, so take a look at the trailer:

Here’s an excerpt from a Brazilian review of the movie:

“Se engana quem acha que o filme é só sobre os catadores. Acima de tudo, é sobre o artista. Claro que as histórias humanas de luta e superação comovem – tanto que o longa já ganhou prêmios de público nos festivais de Sundance e Berlim –, mas “Lixo Extraordinário” desde o início se propõe a ser um veículo para Muniz, mesmo que com cara de cinema social. Esse conflito fica evidente em um breve momento, no qual o artista, ao afirmar estar se desapegando de bens materiais, reflete até que ponto seu gesto de generosidade não é uma faca de dois gumes, uma vez que ele também se beneficia do projeto. Constrói-se aí uma sinuosa figura de herói.”

And here’s an excerpt from the film, but without subtitles!

To see where Waste Land is playing near you, click here.