Educational Media Reviews Online

What happens to our trash once we put it out on the curb for the garbage truck to take? What happens to trash worldwide after it is collected? Using very little dialogue, Matter Out of Place attempts to answer these questions by showing footage of waste management processes around the globe. The filmmaker presents 10 different scenes of how waste is gathered, handled, or cleaned up in diverse areas of the world including Albania, Austria, the Maldives, Nepal, the Nevada desert, the Swiss Alps, and underwater off the Greek coast. At these different locales, the film often captures big machinery, moving mountains of trash around in projects that seem endless and almost impossible to complete. In addition to the waste management scenes the film also shows gorgeous scenery and seascapes that are frequently covered in litter, plastic rubble, or other discarded objects.

At the start of this film matter out of place is defined as “any object or impact not native to the immediate environment.” The 10 scenes show how differently this matter is handled depending on the area of the world where refuse is managed. Some viewers may find these particular film shots too long. In many scenes a lot of time is spent showing how human-generated debris is taken from dumpster, to vehicle, to landfill. However, these long scenes of garbage being dumped, burned, or sorted, not only demonstrate the amount of time and energy spent handling trash, but also reveal how less affluent countries or nations found in the Global South have rudimentary waste management measures that further exacerbate environmental problems. Certain locales use open landfills where film viewers observe bubbling/polluted water, scavenging birds circling fetid pits, numerous insects buzzing while a trash mountain continues to expand. These open pits are frequently set on fire, belching toxic smoke into the atmosphere near oceans or neighboring homes. Meanwhile, in another scene garbage trucks haul trash out of beautiful Swiss alpine skiing resort towns by hitching rides at the bottom of cable cars. In an Austrian scene, trash is sorted, crushed, and incinerated underground where the smoke is contained.

In this expository documentary one scene will bleed into another. The dusty Austrian incinerator scene fades to another dusty locale filmed in the Nevada desert where Burning Man is held. At the conclusion of this festive event numerous volunteers collect debris and refuse to leave the desert the way they found it. Scene changes are subtle to suggest that, although trash collecting methods may differ by location, waste management is a universal global issue. One also gains an appreciation for the individuals who participate in the waste management workforce, where the labor seems tedious, grueling, and probably very smelly. The scenes where volunteers tirelessly pick up trash from beaches and underwater in scuba gear reveal the large amount of junk people thoughtlessly dump anywhere without thinking of the repercussions to the ecology or landscape.

Matter Out of Place does not offer any solutions or opinions related to these issues. However, by presenting some of the differing waste management/trash collection procedures found globally it reveals how much labor and resources are needed to properly manage trash. This documentary is available in DSL (on particular platforms) and DVD formats. Institutions that purchase the DVD receive a license for institutional use and public performance rights. Matter Out of Place is recommended for advanced high school classes and college courses such as biology, ecology, environmental studies, and urban studies. This film should make everyone reflect on what they discard, usually without giving it a second thought.

Awards:
Green Leopard Environmental Prize, Locarno Film Festival 2022

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