Born into Brothels

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(5 stars) - a wonderful DVD (and a tale of hope)
This is a wonderful DVD that I feel people should watch for two reasons:

1. It shows how children in many parts of the world are raised.

2. It shows that, even though children grow up like this, there is still hope.

These kids are smart, they look out for each other, and they're hopefully learning hard lessons without having to go through them personally. I hope these children are getting the support they need to succeed in life without having to turn to drugs or prostitution, like most of their parents have.

(5 stars) - Oh ye of little hope.
The hope of mankind, that the children shall rise from the sins of their fathers.

(5 stars) - Left me wanting more!
I originally bought this dvd for an anthropology class. It was a great video that left me wanting more information. Some of the scenes were hard to watch just because of the way the children were treated. Excellent documentary even for the non-student.

(5 stars) - fine documentary with lots of realism
Born Into Brothels is a powerful documentary that will touch even the hardest of hearts. Made by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, the film primarily chronicles the lives of children living and working in Calcutta's "Red Light District" and we learn so much about them. This film is certainly not for the faint of heart; but if you can watch this movie you will find it an enriching experience and very educational at that.

The film starts out with Zana Briski narrating a bit as we see footage of the Red Light District, the people who live there and the men who come to spend time with the s** workers there. The adults living there became very afraid of the cameras and they wouldn't want the shame of being filmed, so Zana and the others of the crew learned fast that chronicling their lives would be tough. Despite that, however, a minority of the mothers verbally abuse their kids even on film! The language they use to abuse their children is enough to make a sailor blush! It's terrible. Moreover, their mothers, the s** workers, treat their kids horribly as if they were little more than slaves.

Therefore, while the filmmakers originally intended to make a movie focused much more on the s** workers; they changed their minds somewhat after meeting children living in the brothels without much hope for their future. Zana Briski decides to give eight of the children a relatively simple to operate point-and-shoot camera; and she teaches them photography with regular classes to educate them and improve their self-esteem.

The children quickly learn to make photos and they savor the thrill of being able to create photos that are regarded favorably by the person they soon come to call "Zana Auntie." Zana goes all the way to help these kids and improve their self-esteem at the same time; we see Zana arrange for their photos to be auctioned at Sotheby's and there is even an art gallery exhibit in Calcutta. When the Indian television press crews show up with their cameras, the children's faces light up and it is amazingly touching to see just how much they sense a ray of hope for their futures. The children clearly know that their future does not lie in the Red Light District; and they state many times in this film that they do not want to grow up to be like their parents.

Poor Zana! She tries so hard to get these children out of the homes they live in and into a better environment. We see Zana running around in an endless bureaucratic, red-tape lined machine as she struggles to get these kids into boarding schools so they won't have to go home too often; the kids can then get away from the bad influences of their parents' ways.

Believe it or not, I haven't given everything away up to this point in the film and I don't want to spoil it for anybody by giving away too much more. There's good and there's bad; but suffice it to say this is an outstanding documentary that moves both the heart and the mind.

Overall, Born Into Brothels is not always easy to take but when you watch this film the empathy you feel for these kids makes you hope they can achieve a brighter future. The filmmakers tried so hard to help them; and in the meanwhile a fine documentary was produced. I highly recommend this film.

(3 stars) - Unflinching portrayal of the lives of a group of children in Sonagachi
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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