SCRAP is a love letter to the things we use in our daily lives. This cinematic documentary tells the story of people – a Thai family living in an abandoned airplane, recycling workers in Delhi picking apart discarded electronics, a farmer in South Dakota building sculptures from scrap metal— who each have a deep connection to objects that have reached their ‘end of life’.

Together, these stories convey a deeper environmental and human message about our relationship to things, the sadness we feel at their eventual loss, and the joy that we can find in giving them a new purpose.

Things, like people, show a certain beauty in their old age. Like us, they carry the weight of their history and the markings and scars accumulated through their lifespan. With the loss of these objects, we are also losing parts of our history and the cultural memory which they embody.

By showing discarded goods in a new and engaging way, the film raises awareness about the fate of the things we use and explores how artists, and other creative thinkers, can be part of finding usefulness in the things we discard.

Director & Writer STACEY TENENBAUM will be joining us for a post-screening Q&A.

Saturday, October 22
Doors 2:45 pm | Movie 3:15 pm *Please arrive on time. Start time subject to change.
Advance tickets HERE

*Minors permitted. Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service. Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK for any single film screening only. Please redeem at the box office.
*Advance ticket sales end an hour before showtime; unless otherwise noted tickets are available for purchase at the door.
*If you are looking to redeem your tickets to either a canceled Rio Theatre screening or a Rio Theatre gift certificate, please email <[email protected]> with info including your name, canceled receipt number, gift certificate info, what you are wanting to see and when, and we can make the switch for you in advance. Alternately, you can bring this information with you to the venue, and we will do our best to help you at the box office.

SCRAP (Stacey Tenenbaum, 2022 / 78 mins / G) SCRAP is a love letter to the things we use in our daily lives. Through deeply personal and surprisingly moving stories—a Thai family living in an abandoned airplane, recycling workers in Delhi picking apart discarded electronics, a farmer in South Dakota building sculptures from scrap metal—the strange beauty of end-of-life objects comes into focus. Together these stories convey a deeper environmental message about the tragic rise of over-consumption, disposables and planned obsolescence. When objects are built cheaply and made to be thrown away, we all too quickly lose the instinct and ability to repair or recycle. SCRAP confronts big topics with a gentle nostalgia and a quiet pace. You’ll never look at junk in quite the same way again.