Garbage Dreams is Mai iskander’s 2009 green movie about the Zaballeen community in Cairo, Egypt, reaping award after award as it screens at festivals. Al Gore personally chose the film as the recipient of the Reel Current Award at the 2009 Nashville Film Festival.

The Zaballeen community lives among the garbage that it recycles. Trash, slicing off the lids of aluminum cans, transforming plastic bottles into recyclable fluff, anything goes. 90% of the trash the Zaballeen collect is recycled. Highly useful skills in a world ehere there is a rising consciousness of the value of the ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ slogan.

Whereas the Zaballeen are often rated low on the social ladder, the nature of their job actually now ennobles them.

But even this meagre subsistence life is under threat from foreign companies that use modern means of processsing garbage.

A fascinating documentary. See it here. and look out for its DVD to appear on the Great Green Movies Guide.