Cairo has a population of 18 million and no sanitation service. One can hardly walk through the streets for all the garbage. A group of former farmers migrated to the city for the economic opportunity of collecting 3,000 tons of garbage a day and recycling 80 percent of it for a small livelihood. It may be the world’s most efficient recycling program, and now, the Egyptian government has sold the rights to sanitation collection to foreign companies for $50 million, with only a 20 percent recycling obligation.
GARBAGE DREAMS, an international award-winning film, follows three teenage boys for four years as they toil in Cairo’s trash trade, only to be thwarted by a GRAPES OF WRATH—style big corporation invasion. Faced with uncertain futures are Adham, a bright precocious 17-year-old; Osama, a charming impish 16-year-old; and Nabil, a shy artistic 18-year-old.
This provocative ITVS film, by Mai Iskander, previews at MPTV Community Cinema, at the Discovery World Innovation Theater, on Thursday, January 7, at 6:30 pm. A panel discussion follows the screening. Panelists include Rick Meyers, recycling specialist with the City of Milwaukee DPW and George T. Stone, Ph.D., from MATC’s Department of Physical Science and co-chair of MATC’s District Sustainability Committee and chair of the Green Energy Summit. MPTV General Manager Ellis Bromberg hosts.
Admission to MPTV’s monthly screenings is free. Parking is $1. Discovery World is located 500 North Harbor Drive (just south of the Milwaukee Art Museum). MPTV will broadcast GARBAGE DREAMS on MPTV 10.1 HD in April, 2010.
