Born into Brothels is an academy award winning documentary that chronicles the time that its director Zani Briski. Briski spends her time in the the red light district of Calcutta in India documents the lives of children born of prostitutes. Throughout her time spent in the brothel Zani is able to befriend many of the kids and thus she sets on out a mission to teach the children the art of photography. She teaches them the basics of beginner photography. She gives them all basic cameras to which the children are to take pictures of anything they wish. The end results are something quite note-worthy for the level that they are at. Not only does Zani dedicate herself to teaching photography to the children she also helps the kids by trying to improve their educational opportunities. She insists upon having the children be entered into formal schools only so that they they can flourish as intellectuals. I find this the most important part of her time in Calcutta because she was able to take these kids out of the brothel and into boarding schools. This has altered their lives from being stuck in slums of life into the ability of having a life well valued. The way she is able to afford schools for them is from the money she receives from selling their photographs. This documentary is Heart-breaking and makes the viewer question all that they take for granted like a good education; throughout the documentary the kids repeatedly say that they would love to actually go to a school. The fact that the art photography has such an impact on the lives of these unfortunate children. This shows how great an art is to the advancement of well-rounded adults. The children's work has been in exhibits in amsterdam as shown in the documentary and one of the children was even asked to be present to represent the children. Zani Briski did not stop at only helping children in the red light district of calcutta but has also had programs which are called Kids with Cameras in other countries such as Haiti, Jerusalem, and Cairo. Briski's commitment to exposing children to photography is inspiring to all. I found Born into Brothels to be a movie that will make you hope for the enrichment of children all around the world.
This is the website for Kid with Cameras where you can find all the work by the children and history about the program: http://kids-with-cameras.org/home/
Jay,
ReplyDeleteA lot of your blogs are very interesting to read. This one in particular reaches out to me because I had written a blog somewhat like this one for last week's blog. My blog was about children living on the streets and those same children having babies and raising them on the streets.
Your blog reaches out to me also because these children obviously have a hard life especially because they are children that came form prostitution. Taking things for granted is just human nature. I am sure that even you take many things for granted and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, to some extent. I know I take many things for granted as well, especially my education. It is life and something needs to be done about it. Hopefully we are the generation that makes a difference or an impact in this world. Your blog is an eye-opener, definitely very interesting and amazing.
-Diana
I am thoroughly impressed by your effort and your insight in this posting. In Thailand, I had an experience where I took digital photographs of village children, and they were completely fascinated by their own images. This posting made me think about that.
ReplyDeleteGrade: 4/4
Born Into Brothels Kids Sue Filmmakers! (Calcutta newspaper, August 2008)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's true.
Born Into Brothels is a story of lies, half truths, distortions and exploitation. I invite you to read the newest blog and numerous other articles written on the hidden story behind the Hollywood-blessed "documentary." You read, you decide. It's your call.
The blog can be found at http://bornintobrothelslies.blogspot.com