Video Interview: Lucy Walker and Vik Muniz (Waste Land)

The “real-time” nature of Waste Land , Lucy Walker’s second film of this year, brings up many important and classic issues in documentary film. Walker speaks of having people ask her if she’s interested in “features.” As if this film is not a “feature.” That question is quite telling of documentary film’s place in comparison to scripted narrative. So if Waste Land goes on the documentary shelf in the video store, or rather in the documentary category on Netflix, does that mean it is not narrative? Walker most definitely considers this a narrative film. Scripted narrative is different, so this is a kind of non-fiction feature narrative film. Enjoy the interview (broken up in five pieces) below with filmmaker Lucy Walker and subject/artist Vik Muniz.

Her other release this year, Countdown to Zero, was by no means narrative, and was a series of talking heads interviews, archival footage, narration, etc. That film was an archetypal social issues, educational documentary, and it was quite effective in its style until the third act got repetitive and did not want to end.

What is the definition of “documentary?” Some teach that a documentary needs to deal with social issues. Some say that the film is just better if it deals with social issues, and truly great if it can affect change in real life, such as The Thin Blue Line. Walker explained that her mission was, not to affect social change or document any kind of phenomenon. She said it starts with wanting to make “great films.” So this film most certainly falls under the social issue banner, however, the social issues, or rather the content, are not what make the film powerful.

Muniz and Walker have stories of all of their screenings across the globe, and the different reactions each audience had, from the special red carpet and then standing ovation for the actual pickers who came to the Rio Film Festival, to the a screening in what they described as an amphitheater in a swamp in the south of France, quite appropriate for a film that takes place predominantly in a landfill, to a screening in Tokyo with an audience who held in all of their emotions until the end, at which point they all proceeded to cry hysterically. As I described in my review, these strong emotional responses come from Walker’s filmmaking, not just the subject matter.

Another element of note is Walker’s repeated presence at Soho House NY’s React to Film series, curated and hosted by Coralie and Dennis Paul. To quote them, “the series focuses on issue-based documentaries shown in front of an intimate audience giving it the kind of targeted viewing that these kinds of films deserve.” They previously screened Walker’s Countdown to Zero and had not only Walker, but producer Lawrence Bender and subject Valerie Plane Smith in attendance for both Q&A and cocktail hour meet and greet afterwards. This time around, Walker was joined by Muniz and Wasteland’s composer Moby. The events are very smart ways to spread word about important films that are a tough sell in a crowded marketplace, and the Pauls and Soho House are doing a great job of selecting good films and producing very interesting events. The following week they screened another Sundance docu: Gasland, Josh Fox’s docu about what you don’t want to see coming out of your faucets.

Arthouse Films released Waste Land in theaters in October.