By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Ross Kauffman | Zana Briski
Country: india, united_states
Year: 2005
Running time: 85
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388789/combined
Diane says: “Too soon, too soon! Janet and I were not quite ready to relive the overwhelming traffic and highly-developed bureaucracy of India so soon after our visit in December.
“Zana Briski is a British photographer who has been living in the brothels of Calcutta for several years, documenting the people, their lives, and the neighborhood. She is drawn to the children of the red-light district, and begins classes to teach them photography. The opening of the film is a great montage of slo-mo video and photographs. Then we meet the kids, watch them in class, at home, and taking pictures, and see some of their work. Here we get a tast of their personalities and talents, the excitement provided by recognition, and their resiliency.
“The second half of the film is more of a narrative covering Briski’s frustrating attempts to get eight of the kids out of the brothels and into boarding school. Here the film sags. With Briski’s project (www.kids-with-cameras.org) still growing, the film (directed by Briski and Ross Kauffman) ultimately comes across as a fundraising tool. 3 cats.”
Beth C says: “This is one of my favorite documentary films. The director/producer duo, Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman have done a superb job with this film – not only because they created a good, creative, enjoyable& educational film, but also because they provided the world with a rare view of the daily life of children living in brothels. We may have thought about the conditions under which people are forced to live when they are sex workers in poor developing nations, but we seldom get the chance to learn about the reality of their lives.
“I especially liked this documentary because we got to know the individual personalities of each child, and we viewed several of the difficulties they were presently experiencing, without having to put up with a heavy-handed, moralistic, activist voice. I appreciated the fact that the filmmakers were not on a mission to place blame or judgement upon the women working in the brothels or men who were their customers. Many documentaries tend to go overboard trying to pressure the viewer into such a state of empathy, that people are forced to recoil on general principle. But this film merely documents individual cases, and allows us to have our own opinions and feelings.
“The success of this film is partly due to the fact that one of the photography students emerged with unmistakable genius. I saw the film at the Cleveland Film Festival (for which it won the audience award) and had a chance to meet the directors and view the artwork of the children. The film probably moved us even more when we saw the artwork that emerged from these classes. I purchased one of Zana Briski’s beautiful black-and-white prints which was featured in the film. [You can purchase the children’s prints online (tax-deductible) at http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/oscar/]. Overall, I think that the movie’s strength arose from the fact that this was the first truly well-made film that closely documents the lives and individual personalities of some of the world’s most forgotten youth. 4 1/2 cats”
Bruce says: “This documentary is unusual on several levels. First, Zana Briski tells us that it is not the documentary she had planned. She had wanted to go into the brothels of North Calcutta and film the woman who work there and their families. The community did not take kindly to that notion, so Briski and Kauffman switched gears creating an entirely different film. Selecting seven children (three boys, four girls) as subjects of the film, ‘Zana Auntie’ gave each child a camera accompanied by lessons on how to use it.
“As we watch the children learn about photography, we learn what kind of life they have being raised in brothels. To my surprise most of the mothers are married. Aside from giving new meaning to ‘working mothers,’ it appears that most of the women are supporting shiftless husbands who spend their days drinking and smoking hashish. The children seem surprisingly normal: one girl is shy, one girl worries she might end up like her mother; one boy is slightly aggressive. Each child learns to use the camera and each child creates an individual portfolio with a unique perspective. Most of the children document their everyday lives.
“The most striking thing about BORN INTO BROTHELS is the many colors and textures discovered by the both the cinematographer and the children, as they begin taking their still photos. India is amazingly rich in color and the abundance of color is soothing to the soul. It makes one wonder what is going on in the ever-so-chic black, grey and beige world we live in.
“Suddenly the film takes a new twist. Zana Auntie decides that without her help the children will be doomed. In her mind these children can be saved by putting them in boarding schools, less the boys become delinquent and the girls go ‘in the line,’ meaning they follow in their mothers’ footsteps. Most schools will not entertain the idea of enrolling children of prostitutes. One uncharitable nun says, ‘No place is the right place (for these children). Who will take them?’ One school accepts the children but only after they are proven HIV negative.
“Some of the parents refuse to let their children go to the school after they are admitted. A couple of the kids drop out after they get there. Avijit the boy who is the best photographer ends up representing India in a special exhibition in Amsterdam sponsored by the World Press Photo Foundation. Only one girl stays in the school – she was the one who worried about ending up like her mother. Possibly two children have been saved.
“Films about children often seem manipulative and this film is no exception. I don’t think that the filmmakers acted with malice but one wonders if they thought things through before making some of their decisions. For those who like BORN INTO BROTHELS, I recommend Mira Nair’s SALAAM BOMBAY!, a feature film about children who live in the streets of Bombay. 4 cats”