Skip to main content
Back to Show
Independent Lens

Waste Land: Human Dignity

This educational film module portrays the lives of two women working as garbage pickers in the world's largest landfill, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Magna and Suleima. Both participate in Vik Muniz's art project "Pictures of Garbage," which helps the women deepen their sense of self worth, and find greater respect from their community.

Support Provided By
Season
Flood
1:15:33
A filmmaker revisits her evangelical roots to find connection with her estranged father.
Changemakers
1:26:04
How 1960s Montreal helped shape the global movement for Black liberation.
Assembly
56:05
Vogue, AI, and identity collide as an artist creates an exhibition honoring Black and queer culture.
Third Act
1:25:34
A filmmaker honors his father’s legacy of art, activism, and resilience across generations.
Light of the Setting Sun
1:12:19
One family. Four generations shaped by displacement and trauma.
Our Community
1:25:40
Natchez, Mississippi, is famous for its antebellum homes, but what’s left out of the tours?
BACKSIDE: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:40
Behind the Kentucky Derby's glamour, unseen workers keep racing’s biggest stage running.
Disability Visibility
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:55
A filmmaker seeks belonging in the little people community and explores dwarfism within her family.
Inside Our Legal System
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:11
An Amish sexual assault survivor breaks her silence, sparking a movement for justice and reform.
African American and Proud
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:31
Meet Barbara Jordan: a civil rights icon whose powerful voice masked a complex private life.
Artistic Expression
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:45
When her eyesight begins to fade, a film editor reimagines belonging and what it truly means to see.
The Librarians
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:43
Librarians across the U.S. examine how restrictions on library content are shaping communities.
Active loading indicator