A new documentary uncovers the truly disastrous effects of the Swine Flu following the lives of a young Egyptian family living in Cairo’s ultra-poor recycling village.

Marina of the Zabbaleen, a new documentary by Torch Films, enters the lives of this largely Coptic Christian tribe seen through the eyes of three children and their mother.  Barely eking out survival in this poor community, Marina’s tribe subsists by collecting nearly half of Cairo’s municipal solid waste, separating it into its recyclable components and feeding what’s left to their pigs.

When the H1N1 virus, or Swine Flu, was declared an international pandemic, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak ordered all the country’s 300,000 hogs slaughtered.  The result was an all out halt of Egypt’s decentralized, natural and sustainable waste disposal system – the hungry pigs.

Now, the garbage heaps in Cairo are too much for the Zabbaleen to control themselves, effectively burying the unfortunate tribe under the very material that kept them alive.

For a look at Marina of the Zabbaleen, click here.

Screenshots taken from Marina of the Zabbaleen courtesy of Torch Films.