Changing the setting

I read the book when it came out. That was set in the slums of Manila.

Andy Mulligan was inspired by a real dumpsite in Manila, but he deliberately left the location unnamed in the book.

What was the inspiration behind Trash?
It was setting – a vast dumpsite in Manila, which is where I live and work – a gorgeous country, full of paradise islands and the most hospitable people in the world. But…like so many countries, wracked by certain problems. A friend told me a true story: that the dumpsite children spend most of their time sorting through parcels of human excrement. We all know about child labour, but that detail – that little vision of hell – wouldn’t leave me. I wanted to write about some of those children, and allow them to fight back.

In Trash you do not specify where the story is set. Some reviewers have guessed Latin America or Mexico. Was it important that the exact location of the story was not revealed?
Yes. I was anxious that the book was never seen as an attack on one country. Corruption and child-exploitation are vile facts of life that exist (or have existed) in every country in the world. I did not want to localize the book when its issues are international.
http://www.andymulliganbooks.com/trash/faq.php

I wonder why the filmakers thought it was better to move to Brazil?

I'm sure funding and filming rights played a major factor, but I also suspect they wanted to link it to real life corruption allegations surrounding the 2016 Olympics. References to the Olympics are kept fairly subtle in the film, but they're still there...

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