Please join us for this special screening followed by a discussion with
H.E. MARIA LUIZA RIBEIRO VIOTTI
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations
VIK MUNIZ
Brooklyn-based artist featured in the film
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. | Registration and Cash Bar
Screening begins promptly at 7:00 p.m.
The Tribeca Grand Hotel
2 Avenue of the Americas (between White and Walker Streets)
New York, NY
SPECIAL ADMISSION
UNA Members: $10
UNA Student Members: FREE
Guests and Non-Members: $15
What happens in the world's largest trash city will transform you.
Filmed over nearly three years, the Academy Award-nominated film WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" — self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz's initial objective was to "paint" the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit. WASTE LAND was recently nominated for 2010 Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.
Guest Speakers
AMBASSADOR MARIA LUIZA RIBEIRO VIOTTI
Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on March 27, 1954. After attending the Rio Branco Institute, the Brazilian diplomatic academy, she joined the Brazilian Foreign Service in 1976, initiating her diplomatic activities in headquarters, in the area of trade promotion, having contributed to the expansion of Brazilian trade relations with China and African countries. Her first destination abroad was the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations (1985-88). Upon returning to Brazil, she pursued work in multilateral affairs and served as Executive Coordinator in the cabinet of the Minister of External Relations and, as a Counselor in Bolivia, she directed the economic sector of the Brazilian Embassy in La Paz.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she also served as Deputy Press Secretary, Head of the Division of South America I (in charge of relations with Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile), Director-General of the Dept. of Human Rights and Social Affairs, and Director-General of the Dept. of International Organizations. She was responsible for the implementation of President's Lula "Action Against Poverty" initiative.
Ambassador Viotti was actively involved in the UN as Vice-Chairperson, in the Preparatory Committee of the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development. She led the Brazilian Delegation to the negotiations that prepared the Monterey Conference on Financing for Development. She was a member of the ECOSOC Ad hoc Group on Guinea Bissau.
She received a Bachelor's Degree in Economics (1979) and concluded a post-graduation course in the same subject (University of Brasília, 1981). She is married to Eduardo Baumgratz Viotti, an economist and adviser to the Senate of Brazil, and has a son.
VIK MUNIZ
Vik Muniz was born into a working-class family in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1961. As a young man he was shot in the leg whilst trying to break up a fight. He received compensation for his injuries and used this money to fund a trip to New York City, where he has lived and worked since the late 1980s. He began his career as a sculptor but gradually became more interested in photographic reproductions of his work, eventually turning his attention exclusively to photography. He incorporates a multiplicity of unlikely materials into this photographic process. Often working in series, Vik has used dirt, diamonds, sugar, string, chocolate syrup and garbage to create bold, witty and often deceiving images drawn from the pages of photojournalism and art history. His work has been met with both commercial success and critical acclaim, and has been exhibited worldwide.
Director Lucy Walker uses dramatic filmmaking techniques to make documentary films, following memorable characters on transformative journeys that grant unique access inside closed worlds. In addition to WASTE LAND, Lucy Walker directed a second feature documentary that premiered at Sundance 2010 and was recently screened in our film-talk series: COUNTDOWN TO ZERO, a terrifying exposé of the current threat of nuclear terrorism and proliferation.
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UNA-NYC is grateful for the generosity of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, for allowing our organization the consistent booking of their state of the art screening room for our Film Talk series.
Nearest subway stations to access the Tribeca Grand Hotel area:
Canal Street station: A, E, C trains
Franklin Street station: No. 1 train
Also close, but requires a little walk:
Canal Street Station station: N, Q, R, W trains
View the Tribeca Grand Hotel neighborhood map and more directions