Born Into Brothels
Directors: Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman
2004. USA. 83min.
English and Bengali with English subtitles.
[*taken from: www.kids-with-cameras.org]
Born into Brothels
Calcutta's Red Light Kids
"The most stigmatized people in Calcutta's red light district, are not
the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty,
abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping
heir mother's fate or for creating another type of life.
In Born into Brothels, directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman
chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come
to know in the red light district. Briski, a professional photographer,
gives them lessons and cameras, igniting latent sparks of artistic
genius that reside in these children who live in the most sordid
and seemingly hopeless world.
The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples
of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something
much larger, morally encouraging, and even politically volatile:
art as an immensely liberating and empowering force.
Devoid of sentimentality, Born into Brothels defies the
typical tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly.
Briski spends years with these kids and becomes part of their
lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather
than anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery, and a
true testimony of the power of the indelible creative spirit."
so this was a docu-film festival screening that i really wanted to see,
but wasn't able to at the 2004 VIFF & later kicked myself HARD for it.
this past weekend, i came across an article in the paper again about the film,
the directors behind the documentary & their vision put in action-- so incredibly
inspiring.