SXSW Film Review: Garbage Dreams

Adham dreams of owning his own can cutting factory in Garbage Dreams

For those viewers few and far between who found Slumdog Millionaire to be infuriatingly glib about poverty instead of heartwarming, we recommend Garbage Dreams, a documentary about the Zaballeen, a group of impoverished Egyptians living in Cairo who survive off of the money they make from recycling the trash of others.

Directed by Mai Iskander, Garbage Dreams is an unflinching and honest portrayal of the Zaballeen community. When the documentary starts with vivid visual description of the work of the Zaballeen—picking up trash, slicing off the lids of aluminum cans, transforming plastic bottles into recyclable fluff—you're just about thinking, "This is no way for people to live," and then the film takes a turn, explaining that the Zaballeen are about to lose even this marginal and seemingly unhygienic method of subsistence. Egyptians have begun hiring foreign trash companies to pick up their garbage, preferring a more "modern" method of disposal to the old-school dependence on an underclass to perform the function. The Zaballeen community tries to mobilize to fight this challenge, but the movie makes clear that not every David vs. Goliath tale ends with a slain giant.

Like Slumdog, the movie follows children who live in what can only be described as slum conditions. Unlike the Oscar winner, however, this movie shows how people who live in this type of a world struggle to maintain their dreams for a workable community future, even as those dreams seem impossible to realize. No deus ex machina in the form of game show steps in to save Adham, Nabil, Osama, and their fellow teenagers, who have grown up as trash sorters and have to re-think their futures in the face of the threat from foreign companies. Some of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film come when Adham and Nabil visit Wales to see how a Western society deals with its trash. In a recycling factory, Adham can't believe how much of each piece of trash the process seems to waste. "Here there is technology, but no precision," he observes.

Garbage Dreams allows its subjects their dignity, and by the end of the film, the trash-piled streets where the Zaballeen live, which initially seemed terrifying and dirty, start to look like the site of a community eminently worthy of preservation. Danny Boyle, take note.

Garbage Dreams had its world premiere on Sunday, and will screen again on Thursday, March 19th, at 4:30pm. Check SXSW listings for information.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By rebeccaonion in Arts & Entertainment on March 17, 2009 11:30 AM 0 Comments

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A definite must see! Find out where this film is playing, and make a point to see it! First time director Mai Iskander delivers a rare glimpse into the underbelly of a world literally buried in tons of garbage, to reveal a community of hard working, warm, generous people on the brink of being outsourced from the only way of survival they know. This beautifully painted portrait of three teenage "expert recyclers" is shocking, eyeopening, thought provoking, heartbreaking, heartwarming, humorous and unforgetable. While you may be tempted to stand up and shout, "LET THESE PEOPLE DO THEIR JOBS"!; this viewer hopes you will opt to spread the word and do a better job in your own community.

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MirandaS

I went to "Garbage Dreams" with some of my high school friends and my younger sister. We were one of the lucky ones to get a seat at the final screening on Thursday, I heard that all three screenings at SXSW were sold out.

I learned so much watching this movie. It really opened my eyes to issues of poverty, globalization and recycling. Now, I always think twice before throwing something out in the trash.

The boys in the film were awesome and inspiring (and cute)!

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MaxA

'Garbage Dreams' is sensitive and intimate portrayal of three teenage boys fraught with teenage angst who grow up to be young men in one of the most unlikely places: a garbage city.

This film's eerie, beautiful imagery and intimate cinema verite photography instantly drew me into their obscure world, and somehow made me feel right at home.

Each of the teenage boys in the film toil and suffer; are steadfast and philosophical when they must be; are toughen by their surroundings; yet they still dare to dream.

Beyond the film’s cinematic beauty and human drama, 'Garbage Dreams' is filled with invaluable lessons and rich inspirations to creating a sustainable future.

An incredibly well done documentary.

Amazing!

I highly recommend this film.

nickc

Yes! This movie was inspiring; after the premier Adham was in attendance. He clearly was overwhelmed by the crowd's standing ovation, and expressed a love for Terra Burger (he said they recycle a large percentage of their wastes,) through interpreter.

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The Zaballeen community tries to mobilize to fight this challenge, but
the movie makes clear that not every David vs. Goliath tale ends with a
slain giant.

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Unlike the Oscar winner, however, this movie shows how people who live
in this type of a world struggle to maintain their dreams for a workable
community future, even as those dreams seem impossible to realize.