Between flocks of seagulls and bulldozers, the “Bottlemen” collect tons of plastic bottles daily for recycling from Europe’s largest open-air landfill on the outskirts of Belgrade. The camera shifts between dusty close-ups and epic panoramas that reveal the toxic scale of the site. It quickly becomes clear that the chaotic activity actually follows a certain order, rooted in tradition and hierarchy. At the center is Rom Yanika, who aspires to become the leader of his work crew. Powerful, ethnographic observations of daily labor are combined with intimate glimpses into the lives of the Bottlemen in a rundown Roma settlement – far removed from any aestheticization of poverty. A raw, unvarnished look at a toxic environment and a toxic male world, becoming a contemporary testimony. With the construction of a waste incineration plant, the days of the landfill – and the Bottlemen – are numbered. (JM)

Vienna Premiere