Review of Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004) by Charles L — 02 Mar 2010

I watched this award winning documentary 6 years too late, but that seems to be a big part of why I still reflect on it a little every day. To have watched a film about children raised in brothels in the slums of Calcutta, who are given a gift from photojournalist Zana Briski to possibly change their destiny and go to school would be interesting. Yet, to have watched a film where you hear these children talk about where they are from as they sit by their prostitute mothers and grandmothers, or discuss their goals while their hash addicted father nods off in the street after a binge, to see their faces light up when "Zana Auntie", as they call her, travels with them to the beach, or to an exhibit is amazing, awe-inspiring and heart- warming. As their story is told, photographs the children have taken are flashed on the screen with the soft melancholy music of India. You can see in each the talent the children possess, yet the surroundings they are forced to live in. You can hear the praises of Manhatten socialites as they bid on the photographs and then flash back to Calcutta where an angry prostitute is screaming at her children. It divided my feelings into both hope and despair. Having seen this movie six years after it was created made me realize these children aren't children anymore and so the thoughts begin as to where they are now.

This is a movie about how one person can make a difference in the lives of others with the simplicity of sharing one's talent with a handful of kids from the red light district. It is unnerving yet inspiring, sad yet uplifting, and well worth the Oscar it won.