Must-see video: Ilha das flores = Isle of flowers (1989) VHS 2926

What starts out as a humorous take on the food chain from a middle-class Brazilian perspective suddenly evolves into a scathing indictment of the social system as it looks at what becomes of the garbage produced by the inhabitants of Porto Alegre, Brazil. This 13-minute film is little-known in the US, but it garnered enough votes on IMDB.com to rank #14 on its list of the Top 50 Documentary Films by average vote.

Though much more clever in how it jolts it’s audience’s sensibilities, the light narrative style that belies the film’s dead serious subject matter is in the vein of Fahrenheit 9/11 (DVD 775), Supersize Me (DVD 955), and Atomic Cafe (DVD 536).

Posted in Recommendations.