Garbage Dreams

Can you imagine your life revolving around garbage? For the garbage collecting group called the Zaballeen, it is all they know. The city of Cairo has no city-wide waste disposal system. As a result, a large group of lower class residents have been going door-to-door and gathering people's trash. Their income comes from recycling the trash they accumulate and selling the raw materials to other countries. If it were not for the Zaballeen, the city would not be clean. However, they run into a crisis when the city begins to contract with foreign waste disposal companies that continue to expand. The work the Zaballeen have been doing for decades is being taken away from them and the life they once knew is quickly slipping away from them. Everyday there is less trash available, and the sense of security they once had is gone. The Zaballeen are forced to modernize their trade or give up completely. GARBAGE DREAMS follows the devastation of a community and its way of life. This is one documentary you should not miss. (In Arabic with English subtitles)-L.W.