SHORT GRAND PRIX COMPETITION

RECYCLED LIFE

USA/Guatemala, 2006, 38 min., Spanish, English

Director: Leslie Iwerks
Producer: Mike Glad
Script: Mike Glad, Leslie Iwerks
Cinematography: Leslie Iwerks
Editing: Leslie Iwerks
Music: Mader
Sound: Leslie Iwerks
Production company: Iwerks – Glad, LLC
Print Source:
Iwerks – Glad, LLC
125 Montana Ave. Ste. 408
Santa Monica, Ca 90403
USA
Tel.: 310 458.8885
e-mail: liwerks@speakeasy.net
www.leslieiwerks.com


Recycled Life

In this powerful Academy Award nominated documentary, filmmaker Leslie Iwerks travels to the Guatemala City Garbage Dump, Central America's most toxic landfill and home to thousands of "guajeros" – indigenous men, women and children who live and work in the stifling heaps of trash. Among hard hitting footage of entire families sifting through mounds of waste and salvaging what they can to eat and wear, interviews with the ostracized inhabitants reveal a group of people brimming with pride, grace, resilience and contagious spirit in the face of devastating circumstances, as well as a population fully aware of their next to forgotten status. Though their work of picking through – and selling off - the trash helps to reduce Guatemala’s waste output, Iwerks is quick to show how devastating health effects have crippled the dump’s inhabitants. Attempts to educate the population’s children and bring about change are cut short after a devastating fire that further deteriorates the already reprehensible conditions in which these dauntless people find themselves.

Leslie Iwerks
A third generation filmmaker from a two-time Oscar winning family, Leslie is continuing in the passion for visual storytelling. After graduating the USC Cinema school in 1993, Leslie assisted several top film directors such as Tom Shadyac and Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Michael Cristofer on numerous feature films for Disney, Universal, and HBO including Liar, Liar, The Nutty Professor, Gia and Mighty Ducks 2. In 2001, Leslie served as Manager of Film Production/ New Business Development for Iwerks Entertainment, where she developed large format 70mm films and documentaries. Leslie has been in development with Walt Disney Pictures to co-produce, write and direct a large format 70mm film on big wave surfing in association with legendary big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton.

Filmography (as a director):

Recycled Life (2006), the Academy nomination for the Best Short Documentary;
Pixar’s 20th Anniversary Special (2006), TV;
The Ride/The Day (2004), TV;
The Hand Behind the Mice: the Ub Iwerks Story (1999).

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