STORY: Argentina Garbage Lady
LANG: Spanish / Natsound
CLIENT: HORIZONZ, AP TELEVISION
SOURCE:OWM
Buenos Aires, October, 2009

Forty years of uncontrolled industry activity has made the River which crosses Buenos Aires one of the most polluted areas in the world. Thousands live along the river, most of them under conditions of abject poverty;  Between the banks there are settlements where people live and dump most of their waste into the river. Most of the water is no apt for the human consumption – alarmingly, there is a high level of lead in many of these people’s blood.

This film documents the lives of people on Maciel Island – a settlement well know for the high crime rate and the difficulty to get in and out. Ten minutes far away from the Presidential Palace this island is isolated from any medical assistance or help of any kind. The usual way to get out to the city is crossing the river. There are boats which cross this dark waters with hundreds of workers and children who go to job and school every day.

The inhabitants are up against a major obstacle – the City Government restricts the access of the garbage trucks to Maciel because they fear slum has become too dangerous to enter. With no one to take on the task, members of the community have taken matters in to their own hands and are  organizing themselves to collect and recycle not just their waste but the one which the river brings to its shores.

The central figure in this film takes us on a tour of this difficult reality, but while many have simply learnt to survive in these condition, Rosa Miño has tried to combat it. Everyone calls her “Coty” and she blames the river pollution for her own skin problems as well as her childrens. She is one of the leaders of the cooperative “Barrio Unido” (United Neighborhood) on Maciel Island and her mission has been to clean up the rubbish from the Island.

SHOTLIST:
1. GVS of Riachuelo River near by Buenos Aires city centre
2. Set up of Alfredo Alberti, Head of Vecinos de la Boca
3. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Alfredo Alberti, Head of Vecinos de La Boca,
“This liquid is anything but water. It smells awful and is oily due to the factories waste coming permanently into the river basin.”
4. Various of Factories and pipes into the river
5. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Alfredo Alberti, Head of Vecinos de La Boca,
“People’s health is really bad. Child mortality is double than in any other part of the country. We cannot wait any longer, we urgently need a solution.”
6. Pan left of rubbish floating in the river
7. Set up of Andrés Nápoli, Head of Riachuelo Area in an Environment Foundation (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales)
8. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Andrés Nápoli, Head of Riachuelo Area in an Environment Foundation (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales),
“The Riachuelo has become throughout time in a place where to drain for free factories waste. It has always been very cheap to throw everything into the water and let nature carry the down into Río de la Plata (River Plate). So the Riachuelo has become in practice what we call an elastic pipe: you can throw anything whatever you want and get rid of the garbage for free.”
9. Mid of Isla Maciel settlement on the river shores, neighbor arriving by boat
10. Set up of Rosa MIño, head of Barrios Unidos Cooperative, and MId of cooperative members
11. Gvs neighbors cleaning dump
12. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Rosa Miño, head of Cooperative,
“We have to do our own cleaning as garbage trucks do not get in here. We don’t know who to ask for an explanation.
13. Tilt Up of woman cleaning
14. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Rosa Miño, head of Cooperative,
“If we were able to carry all rubbish out, we would get three or four trucks per day.”
15. Cutaway of garbage
16. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Rosa Miño, head of Cooperative,
“It is a dirty job, we should get gloves and proper clothes from the government but we get nothing.”
17. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Andrés Nápoli, Head of Riachuelo Area, Environmental Foundation
“Nowadays, the situation is of emergency and it requires immediate attention. There are illnesses, two million people suffering consequences from pollution, people that cannot wait till investment develop and nature makes its way. People that really need assistance today, right now. Unfortunately this is not happening.”
18. Various of Rosa Miño walking around the settlement
19. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Rosa MIño, Head of Cooperative,
” All people in Isla Maciel have pimples, breathing problems, cough, all kind of illnesses. All the families have health problems.”
20. Wide shot of settlement from the river
21. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Rosa Miño, Head of Coopertaive
“Here we are cleaning, we are two teams and we all work equally hard. ”
22. Various of neighbors cleaning