BORN INTO BROTHELS

"...and the Oscar goes to: BORN INTO BROTHELS!"

That's what was proclaimed during the 2005 Academy Awards, a much deserved win for a heart wrenching and dramatic documentary which thrust the problematic issues of prostitution in India's Kolkata front and center.

The story is centered around children who are literally born into brothels- their mothers are all prostitutes. The writer, director (Zana Briski,) intially travled to Kolkata to photograph prostitutes, but in return got much, much more. Children of postitutes were given cameras and lessons on photography and told to take pictures of their daily life. The poverty of Kolkata's Sonagachi (their red light district) is displayed in sad detail.

The documentary is a grim look at the underbelly of a world many of us in the United States seem to pretend doesn't exsist, or worse, want to ignore. The upbringing of these kids is rediculous, and being the child of a prostitute is bound to spur a viscous cycle of more prositution, which leads to crime, more poverty, etc.

After viewing the film, I wondered what came of the children featured and upon googling the subject, I found that there is some controversy around it. While some went to boarding school, many dropped out after filming was completed and moved back to Sonagachi. There is also controversy over how much the kids made doing this movie & creating a book of their photos. From what I've read, there are conflicting facts about what the kids featured are doing presently- are some in school? Or living again in distress?

BORN INTO BROTHELS is a powerful film that I've always heard a lot about but never watched. The subject matter is so important and powerful, it shouldn't be missed. It also showcases how important a tool a simple documentary film could be to gain some attention to a terrible situation and how kids can take that situation and create art and (arguably) a new life..