Born in a brothel - children in Calcutta's red light district

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Movie
German title Born in a brothel - children in Calcutta's red light district
Original title Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2004
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director Zana Briski
Ross Kauffman
script Zana Briski
Ross Kauffman
production Zana Briski
Ross Kauffman
music John McDowell
camera Zana Briski
Ross Kauffman
cut Nancy Baker
Ross Kauffman
occupation
  • Zana Briski

Born Into Brothels - Children in Calcutta's Red Light is an American documentary from 2004. The director Zana Briski accompanied children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, the red light district of Calcutta . The film about eight children between 10 and 13 years of age won an Oscar in 2005 for “ Best Documentary ”.

prehistory

The photographer Zana Briski came to Calcutta in 1997 to photograph women from different castes for a project. When Briski got lost in the red light district, the first idea came to her to capture the prostitutes in pictures. Then Briski noticed the countless children on the streets of the red light district and began to deal with them. Many children were very interested in Briski's camera and so the photographer came back with 20 cheap miniature cameras that she distributed to the children. She explained the functions of the camera to the children and then sent them out to photograph anything they liked. At first Briski thought she was seeing neither the children nor the cameras again. But she was wrong and got all the cameras back. The kids were really excited to see what they'd photographed. While developing the photos, the photographer recognized the special charm of the pictures: the red light district from the eyes of the children. Briski decided to help the children and document their stories. This is how the documentary film about the children of the red light district of Calcutta was made over the years.

action

The film begins with images from Sonagachi at night. The women stand close together at the edges of the street and offer themselves to the suitors. Briski reports about the brothels that are full of children who live there with their mothers. A girl tells how it is when a suitor comes. The 10-year-old Puja introduces her friends, while the camera shows the children taking photos of each other. Kochi sits on the floor, washing dishes and talking about her everyday life and that she would like to go to school. Briski tries together with Kochi's grandmother to put Kochi in a boarding school. Kochi's grandmother tells in detail about the difficult family circumstances and why she brings up Kochi and not Kochi's mother.

The photographer, called "Aunt Zana" by the children, gives the children a photography course and discusses the negatives with them. The film shows Suchitra, who hardly ever leaves the house because her aunt wants her “in line”, that is between the other prostitutes on the street. Suchitra doesn't want that. She is asked if she knows a solution on how to prevent prostitution. The girl says no. Avijit tells how he loves to paint and talks about his father, who for years has done little other than smoking hashish . Briski regularly goes on trips with the children so that they have the opportunity to take pictures. They go to the zoo and the sea. The film shows arguments and violence in front of the children and against children in one of the brothels. Two women insult each other while the children play around them or follow the argument with interest.

Briski continues to attend various boarding schools and audition at a Christian boarding school, among others. But even the nuns do not want to take prostitutes' children as pupils and they do not know of any boarding school where Briski could be lucky. Other schools require birth certificates, ration cards, or an HIV test before admission. Briski tries to overcome all these bureaucratic hurdles in order to give the children access to a boarding school. In fact, she manages to get places for four of the girls.

Avijit is invited to be a member of the children's jury at the World Press Photo Exhibition 2002 in Amsterdam. To travel to Amsterdam Avijit needs a pass. This undertaking is also a bureaucratic act that is made almost impossible by Avijit's origins. Briski's tenacity pays off and Avijit can fly to Amsterdam.

background

The film is not allowed to be shown in India, even if it shows how children can leave the red light district and poverty behind through education.

Briski exhibited photos of the children in New York and Calcutta. Some of the photos were auctioned at Sotheby’s , others were printed on an Amnesty International calendar . In 2002 Briski founded the Kids with Cameras project , which offers photography courses for disadvantaged children. In addition to the photography courses in Calcutta, the project is now also active in Cairo , Haiti and Jerusalem .

One of the children in the film, Avijit, received a scholarship after the film was released and was able to attend high school in the United States for a year in 2005 . Kochi also made it to the United States and started attending a private school in Utah in 2009 . Avijit has been studying at the Tisch School of Art at New York University since July 2010 .

Awards

Born in a brothel - children in Calcutta's red light district won a variety of awards. In addition to the Oscar for Best Documentary, these included the National Board of Review Award , the Independent Spirit Award , the LACFA Award , the Nestor Almendros Prize for Courage from Human Rights Watch and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival . There was also a nomination for the DGA Awards .

Reviews

The lexicon of international films wrote: “The film shows the development and the emancipation process of children, documents their determination based on social circumstances, but also the ability to detach oneself from the past. Furthermore, the film impressively shows the creative potential that lies dormant in children. "

Der Spiegel magazine rated the film as "deeply moving and elegant like a good photo report".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Grew up in a brothel , article in the Hamburger Abendblatt from March 16, 2006, accessed on January 12, 2012.
  2. a b kids-with-cameras.org , accessed January 12, 2012.
  3. ^ Updates on the Kids at kids-with-cameras.org, accessed January 12, 2012.
  4. Born in a Brothel - Children in the Red Light District of Calcutta in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed on January 12, 2012.
  5. Der Spiegel 11/2006, March 13, 2006; here online , accessed on January 12, 2012.