| | |  | Classics | Home » » Born into Brothels | | | | | | | Description: | | A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, BORN INTO BROTHELS is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta's red light district, where there mothers work as prostitutes. Spurred by the kids' facination with her camera, Zana Briski, a New-York-based photographer living in the brothels and documenting life there, decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids, who society refused to recognize, awaken for the first time to their own talents and sense of worth. Filmmakers Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski capture the way in which beauty can be found even the seemingly bleakest and most helpless of places, and how art and education can empower children to transform their lives. This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Zana Briski | | Director:
| Ross Kauffman | | Format:
| NTSC | | Language:
| English, Bengali | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Image/Thinkfilms | | Run Time:
| 83 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 10, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 94 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 94 customer reviews )
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36 of 41 found the following review helpful:
 The Lives, Hope, & Creativity of Calcutta's Lowly Children.Jul 22, 2005
By mirasreviews
In order to photograph in the red light districts of Calcutta, India, photojournalist Zana Briski lived there for several years. Though many of the residents were wary of her camera, Briski found that the neighborhood children were unafraid and curious. So she began teaching them photography, giving each child a point-and-shoot film camera with which to photograph his or her environment and providing classes on technique and editing. This eventually resulted in international acclaim for the children's photographs and media coverage for Briski's unusual photo classes. "Born Into Brothels" is a documentary of Briski's class of young photographers filmed by Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman about 2 years into the project that has become known as "Kids with Cameras".
The best thing about "Born Into Brothels" is that it allows the children to tell their story in their own words. Zana Briski's class of 8 photographers -who call her "Zana Auntie"- are children of prostitutes, born and raised among the harsh realities of Calcutta's Sonagachi red light district. There are 5 girls: Kochi, Tapasi, Shanti, Puja, and Suchitra, and 3 boys: Manik, Gour, and Avijit, ranging in age from 10 to 14 years, but mostly pre-teens. The documentary is dominated by interviews with the children and by their photographs, with occasional voiceover or footage of Zana Briski. The filmmakers are commendably respectful of the children and their decisions. These kids understand their situations very well and tend to be philosophical about it, yet many of them yearn for opportunities to escape life in the brothel. Interestingly, the kids are not fatherless children of single prostitutes, as I might have expected. Many of their mothers' are married and live with large extended families.
"Born Into Brothels" lets the kids talk about themselves, their families, and their world. We sit in on their photo classes, accompany them on photo field trips to the zoo and the beach, and sympathize with Zana Briski's frustration as she struggles with bureaucracy and prejudice to find boarding schools that will accept children of sex workers. We also see the kids beaming with pride and having some fun as they enjoy international success and a bit of fame in India as well. Zana Briski has obviously done a great deal of work and invested a lot of emotional energy in a project that may change the lives of a handful of children if she is lucky. But even if the kids lives' turn out no different than their parents', photography has broadened their outlook and given them some great experiences. "Born Into Brothels" is an engaging documentary of that process. To learn more or purchase prints, visit www.kids-with-cameras.org .
The DVD (Thinkfilm 2005): There are text bios of Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman. "About the Photographers" includes text bios of the children, which are useful in figuring out who is who.
89 of 109 found the following review helpful:
Best Documentary Oscar WinnerSep 02, 2005
By B. Merritt
"filmreviewstew.com"
One of the most despicable things that has to do with this film is that there aren't more glowing reviews of it here at Amazon.com. Why is that? Come on people! There must've been a wide viewing audience of it since its win at the Academy Awards!
We (i.e., The U.S.) don't often see the grittiest side of life. And when I say gritty, I MEAN gritty. The audience takes an emotional roller coaster ride with narrator and director Zana Brisky as she visits the red light district in Calcutta. Here she meets up with eight children who are the off-spring of prostitutes who "work the line", trying to make enough money to buy their next meal. The children seem doomed to a life of extreme poverty and, most likely for the girls, to also "work the line" when they reach the ripe old age of 14 or 15.
But Mrs. Brisky decides to teach the children how to shoot photographs of their surroundings (she gives each of them a simple point and shoot camera) and engages them in weekly classroom-like visits, showing them the photos they shot the previous days and telling them what they did right and wrong. The children are immediately smitten by the idea of becoming photographers, and they seem to be lifted out of their horrible surroundings, dreaming of becoming world-famous photo-journalists.
Throughout the film we see mostly the children, which I found to be extremely refreshing as far as documentaries go. Most documentaries (I feel) put too much emphasis on the documentary maker(s) and show shot after shot of them rather than the subjects their supposed to be telling the audience about. But not here. Only a fraction of the footage is dedicated to images of Mrs. Brisky, and those portions were vital to the film. Mrs. Brisky tries to get the children out of their hovel as often as she can, and when she does -- for instance when she takes them for their first trip ever to the sea shore -- you can see the children light up (they dance and sing). But when they return to the red light district, their tone quickly sombers. The viewer sees (and feels) this time and again.
The amazing thing, too, is that the children become very able photographers, even having one of their photos appear on the cover of the Amnesty International calendar for 2005.
I should warn you, though, that the documentary doesn't sugar-coat anything (including some horrendous language, child abuse, death, murder, and the risk of HIV). But after watching this incredibly engaging film, I can easily see why it won Best Documentary during the Oscars.
21 of 27 found the following review helpful:
A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY...Nov 26, 2005
By Lawyeraau
This documentary focuses on the children of the prostitutes of Calcutta's red light district and their introduction to photography. It provides only a glancing glimpse into their lives, as the filmmakers were often prohibited from filming in the brothels. This can be disappointing to those who are looking for more of an expose type of documentary. Still, the eight children upon whom the filmmakers focus charm the viewer with a fresh-faced, hopeful innocence that often belies the knowing look in their eyes, as they are all fully aware of what it is that their mothers do for a living.
The filmmakers make a concerted effort to provide these children with alternatives to the lifestyle that they see every day and passes for the norm within the red light district. Initially, they simply teach them the art of photography, so that they may be able to express themselves through photographs. The children earn some international acclaim for their efforts, and the filmmakers begin a financial trust account for the children as prints of their photographs rack up sales. Later, they try to ensure that the children have an opportunity for an education that will expose them to a larger world view and allow them to make an informed choice as to what they can do in life. Some of the children take advantage of the opportunities presented, while others do not.
The film is somewhat choppy, as it is comprised of an amalgamation of still photography and video and, at times, lacks some coherence, despite the subtitles. Consequently, when I first saw the film, I was disappointed. I decided to view it a second time; this time with the filmmakers running commentary, and it made a difference. The commentary provided some much needed cohesion. In the final analysis, however, I was quite surprised to learn that this film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2005, given some of its shortcomings.
11 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Life in Calcutta's underbellyApr 09, 2006
By Kali
"bengaligirl"
Quite simply this is a film that chronicles two foreign photographers, Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's determined efforts to expose a hidden world that is Calcutta's red light district.
A hidden world that is ignored by those lucky enough not to live in it.
Zana who had lived in India on and off for many years had the idea to bring together a group of children, the sons and daughters of prostitutes living in the red light distrct to photograph the world in which they lived, worked and played in.
Armed with basic cameras the children find an outlet in photography, each child showing a different flair in portraying the imagery around them, from their families, the squalor on the streets, a trip to the seaside, a visit to the zoo, every picture tells a story of that child and his or her interaction with those around them.
Be prepared when watching this documentary for strong language, and powerful imagery in the guise of simple statements like, "I have no hope" along with the knowledge that some of these children will not leave the red light district despite the help they are being given by Zana and Ross.
The ties that bind are strong, and many of the young girls accept, albeit reluctantly the fact they will one day take up the work of their mothers whilst their husbands and male siblings look on helplessly, because they are unable to provide for them, and therefore life as a sex worker will at least put food in the bellies of hungry children.
This is not a perfect documentary in any sense of the word but is in fact a snapshot into a world most of us will never venture into because we are very lucky here in the West, we were not born into brothels, we are not Calcutta's red light kids and most of all we are not destined "walk the line" as fallen women whose legacy for their children is tragic as it is sordid.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Unflinching portrayal of the lives of a group of children in SonagachiJan 25, 2009
By Z Hayes
Sonagachi is the infamous red light district in Calcutta, where brothels abound, and prostitution is a way of life. "Born Into Brothels" is an award-winning documentary that focuses on a group of children born into this seedy environment, and who are mentored by a Western photographer, Zana Briski who teaches them photography in the hopes of fostering their dreams for a better future.
I think Ms Briski has her heart in the right place - she opens the minds of these underprivileged children to a world that they probably would never have given much thought to otherwise. Teaching them to take pictures made them 'see' another world outside their poverty-ridden neighborhood, to appreciate little accomplishments even in their deprived circumstances, and to dream of a better life.
That being said - though her efforts here are laudable, it is obvious through the course of the documentary and at the end, that 'rescuing' these children was never an easy task, nor something that had the guarantee of success. This doesn't diminish her efforts, but it does give us pause for thought - what could have been done to ensure these and other children in similar plight would be spared the fate awaiting them - a life of selling one's body for pittance, debasement, and a never-ending cycle of abuse and poverty. Education was promoted as the key to the childrens' futures here, but in reality all but two of the children chose to remain in the boarding schools that Ms Briski had painstakingly got them admitted into.
In reality, there are no easy answers. The documentary does a wonderful job of showing these children with their dreams of a brighter tomorrow. It also paints a dreary picture of their living conditions in the brothel, of the verbal abuse they bear and have to listen to, almost on a daily basis ["prostitute talk"] and of the utter hopelessness of their lives, which many of them seem to bear stoically. Though this may seem remarkable to many, these children know of no other life, and it is 'normal' for them to live the way they do. Ms Brinski tries valiantly to pluck them away from the brothels, but ultimately, many of them choose to return or have no say in the matter, having 'lost' their 'voices' the moment they were born into the brothels.
I watched another documentary recently [can't recall the title], that focused on the efforts of a Nepalese teenager & ex-prostitute who also tries to rescue girls from the brothels in Mumbai, and in fact goes undercover to 'kidnap' these girls and admit them into shelters and schools for exploited children/girls. Just as in Ms Briski's case, some of her rescuees returned to the brothels of their own accord. In many of these failed cases of rescue, it seems the family relationships that binds these girls and children are just too complex to be unravelled. Many of these exploited children are emotionally bound to their families and have been drilled since young to believe they have a duty to their family, to go into the 'profession' and accept responsibility, to feed the aging members of their family, many of whom continue to reside in the brothels long after 'retirement' and to their dying day - it's not just mothers, but grandmothers, aunts, and yes, the parasitical men who feed off their daughters, sisters and wives.
In conclusion - this DVD provides an interesting insight into the lives of a couple of these 'brothel children', yet it by no means provides a complete account of the whys & hows nor does it address the means to ensure a higher rate of success at rescuing these at-risk children.
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