Each year, about 5,000 people make a living from picking through garbage at Jardim Gramacho. The workers scour the landfill daily for any recyclable materials that they can sell or turn in for money. Muniz, a native of Rio de Janeiro, the city that the landfill primarily collects from, saw more than just trash-pickers when he looked at these people, and decided to use his unique skills to help them gain recognition and improve their lives.
This Sunday, these workers will gather in their villages nearby the landfill to route for a win at film’s highest level. As one worker says, “I can't say this is a dream that's come true, because who would have imagined this?”
Muniz traveled to the landfill in 2007, and began to take photographs of the workers in famous poses, such as that of the “Woman Ironing” by Picasso. He then blew up the images and projected them on a large studio floor near the landfill, where he would then collect trash and materials with the workers to outline the facial features and other details of the portrait. Muniz would take pictures of these huge portraits from above, and these sold for as much as $50,000 each, enabling him to raise $300,000 for the workers. The money paid for an office, a storage shed for sorting goods, management classes for the workers, and gave some of them enough to start their own recycling co-ops.
This isn’t the only interesting story in the documentary category this year. Another nominated film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, was directed by Banksy, a world-renowned graffiti artist who never exposes his identity because of the various acts of vandalism he has committed around the world. When he does appear in public, he is generally wearing some type of mask, usually a monkey mask, pictured next to Banksy here. There has been a lot of speculation about what he will wear to the Oscars or if he will appear at all, but since his tags have been popping up all over Los Angeles, it seems fair to assume that he will be there in some shape or form…or face.
.png "English"){kind=small}
