''Garbage Dreams'' is a 2009

feature length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

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 the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

program ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence ...

'' for the occasion of Earth Day 2010 and has been screened in many international film festivals.

Synopsis

''Garbage Dreams'' follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

. It is the home to 60,000 Zaballeen, also spelled "

Zabbaleen The Zabbaleen ( arz, زبالين ', ) is a word which literally means "garbage people" in Egyptian Arabic.Assaad, Ragui. (1996) Formalizing the Informal? The Transformation of Cairo's Refuse Collection System. ''Journal of Planning Education & R ...

" as Arabic for "garbage people." Far ahead of any modern "Green" initiatives, the Zaballeen survive by

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...

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.

Release

''Garbage Dreams'' premiered at the 2009

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

, where it ran in the US Documentary Competition ''Garbage Dreams'' had its international premiere in Europe at the twenty-second International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and its Middle Eastern premiere at the

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announc ...

. 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 and IDA Humanitas Award. ''Garbage Dreams'' aired on PBS ''Independent Lens'' for the occasion of Earth Day 2010. It has been screened in over 100 international film festivals, including the

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...

, the

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, the

Bel Air Film Festival The Bel Air International Film Festival, first held in 2008, is an annual international film festival which takes place in Bel Air, Los Angeles, Bel Air and the greater Los Angeles area. The festival honors films in the following categories: Film ...

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

, and the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

Critical reception

Former U.S.

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is o ...

Al Gore presented the 2009 REEL Current Award to the documentary ''Garbage Dreams'' at the

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

. Gore, and the writer of ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former Vice President of the United States, United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film featur ...

'', 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." In ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Ronnie Scheib called the film "Stunning debut ... skander'slensing grants her subjects immense dignity (they never appear "other" in their poverty) and her film its curious beauty." In her review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Jeannette Catsoulis said "Expertly weaving personal fears, family tensions and political action, 'Garbage Dreams' records the tremblings of a culture at a crossroads." In ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor Ch ...

wrote "Championed by Oscar winner Al Gore and the spur for a million-dollar donation by the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

, ''Garbage Dreams '' could ride its sociological importance to Oscar recognition." In ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' Andrew Schenker called ''Garbage Dreams'' a "handsomely shot and intermittently fascinating look at Cairo's Zaballeen community."

Awards

* Al Gore REEL Current Award 2009 (winner) at the

* Humanitas Award 2009 (winner) at the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

Documentary Awards * Best Documentary 2009 (winner) at the

* Best Documentary 2009 (winner) at the Lone Star Film Festival * Best Documentary 2009 (winner) at the Landlocked Film Festival * Best Documentary 2009 (winner) at the Bermuda International Film Festival * Best Documentary 2009 (winner) at the

Vail Film Festival The Vail Film Festival is an independent film festival that has taken place annually in Vail, Colorado since 2004. The 19th annual Vail Film Festival will take place virtually from December 1 to 4, 2022. The festival was founded by Sean Cross and ...

* Best Documentary 2010 (winner) Ashland Independent Film Festival * Best International Film 2010 (winner) Santa Cruz Film Festival * Best Editing 2009 (winner) at the

* Golden Palm 2009 (winner) at the Mexico International Film Festival * Human Spirit Award 2009 (winner) at the Ojai-Ventura Film Festival * Best Cinematography 2009 (winner) at the

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

* Best Green 2009 (winner) at the Connecticut Film Festival * World Cinema Best Director 2009 (winner) at the

Phoenix Film Festival Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. Started in 2000, the annual celebration takes place in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The festival is a showcase for feature and short films from all over the wo ...

* World Cinema Audience Award 2009 (winner) at the Phoenix Film Festival * Silver Screen Award 2009 (winner) at the

Nevada Film Festival The Nevada International Film Festival (NIFF) is an international film festival granting film awards to independent films in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. In 2011, '' Life! Camera Action...'' directed by Rohit Gupta received the Platinum R ...

* Jury Award (winner), Merit Award for Awareness (winner), Merit Award for Cultural Message (winner), Merit Award for Educational Value (winner) at the 2009 Montana Cine International Film Festival * Special Jury Prize for Muhr Arab Feature Documentary (winner)

* Special Jury Award (winner) Sebastopol FIlm Festival * Tornio Provincial Special Award (winner) Cinemambiente * Youth Prize, Special Mention (winner) Squardi Altrove * Nominated for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries (winner)

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merg ...

Award * Best Feature Length Film (winner)

Eco Films Rodos Eco may refer to Ecology or Economics. It may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Eco'' (video game), a 1988 life simulation game * Eco (2018 video game), a 2018 simulation game * ''Emil Chronicle Online'', a 2005 Japanese MMO computer ...

* Green Doc Award (winner)

Dokufest Kosovo Film Festival DokuFest is an international documentary and short film festival held in the Kosovo city of Prizren, held annually during August. It was founded in 2002 by a group of friends. It has since grown into a cultural event that attracts international ...

* Shortlisted for

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

Documentary Feature 2009

References

External links

* official website * {{IMDb title, 1344314, Garbage Dreams
''Garbage Dreams''
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