| Garbage Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mai Iskander |
| Produced by | Mai Iskander |
| Cinematography | Mai Iskander |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Egyptian Arabic |
Garbage Dreams is a 2009feature lengthdocumentary film produced and directed by Mai Iskander. Filmed over the course of four years,Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys growing up in Egypt's garbage village.Garbage Dreams aired on thePBS programIndependent Lens for the occasion ofEarth Day 2010 and has been screened in many international film festivals.
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Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts ofCairo,Egypt. It is the home to 60,000 Zaballeen, also spelled "Zabbaleen" as Arabic for "garbage people." Far ahead of any modern "Green" initiatives, the Zaballeen survive byrecycling 80 percent of the garbage they collect. When their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of its trade, each of the teenage boys is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.[1]
Garbage Dreams premiered at the 2009SXSW Film Festival, where it ran in the US Documentary Competition[2]Garbage Dreams had its international premiere in Europe at the twenty-second International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam[3]and its Middle Eastern premiere at theDubai International Film Festival.[4]
Garbage Dreams was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards in the category of Best Feature Length Documentary, was nominated for the 2010 Best Documentary by the Directors Guild of America, and has won 26 international awards including the Al Gore Reel Current Award[5] and IDA Humanitas Award.[6]
Garbage Dreams aired on PBSIndependent Lens for the occasion of Earth Day 2010.[7] It has been screened in over 100 international film festivals, including theWoodstock Film Festival,[8] theHollywood Film Festival, theBel Air Film Festival,[9]Maryland Film Festival, and theSeattle International Film Festival.[10]
Former U.S.Vice PresidentAl Gore presented the 2009 REEL Current Award to the documentaryGarbage Dreams at theNashville Film Festival. Gore, and the writer ofAn Inconvenient Truth, presents the award annually to a film that gives outstanding insight into a contemporary global issue.
Gore said of the film, "Garbage Dreams is a moving story of young men searching for a ways to eke out a living for their families and facing tough choices as they try to do the right thing for the planet. Mai Iskander guides us into a 'garbage village', a place so different from our own, and yet the choices they face there are so hauntingly familiar. Ultimately,Garbage Dreams makes a compelling case that modernization does not always equal progress."[11]
InVariety Ronnie Scheib called the film "Stunning debut ... [Iskander's] lensing grants her subjects immense dignity (they never appear "other" in their poverty) and her film its curious beauty."[12]
In her review inThe New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis said "Expertly weaving personal fears, family tensions and political action, 'Garbage Dreams' records the tremblings of a culture at a crossroads."[13]
InThe Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck wrote "Championed by Oscar winner Al Gore and the spur for a million-dollar donation by theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation,Garbage Dreams could ride its sociological importance to Oscar recognition."[14]
InThe Village Voice Andrew Schenker calledGarbage Dreams a "handsomely shot and intermittently fascinating look at Cairo's Zaballeen community."[15]