Born into Brothels

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Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Film poster
Directed by	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
Produced by	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
Written by	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
Starring	Shanti Das Puja Mukerjee Avijit Halder Suchitra
Music by	John McDowell
Cinematography	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
Editing by	Ross Kauffman
Release date(s)	17 January 2004 (premiere at Sundance) 8 December 2005 (NYC only) 2 September 2005
Running time	85 min
Language	Bengali English
IMDb profile

Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Calcutta's red light district. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2005.

1 Production
2 Aftermath
3 Awards
4 Nominations
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Production

Briski, a documentary photographer went to Kolkata (Calcutta) to photograph prostitutes. While there, she befriended their children, and offered to teach the children photography to reciprocate being allowed to photograph their mothers. The children were given cameras so they could learn photography and possibly improve their lives. Much of their work was used in the film, and the filmmakers recorded the classes as well as daily life in the red light district.

[edit] Aftermath

There is debate about the extent to which the documentary has improved the lives of the children featured in it.

The film-makers claim that the lives of children appearing in Born into Brothels have been transformed by money earned through the sale of photos and a book on them. Ross Kauffman, co-director of the documentary, says that the amount earned is $100,000 (about Rs.4.5 million), which will pay for their tuition and for a school in India for children of prostitutes. Briski has started a non-profit organization to continue this kind of work in other countries, named Kids with Cameras ^[1].

However, Partha Banerjee, who worked on the film as an interpreter, has disputed the claim that the children's lives have been improved. In a letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he says that many of them ended up in worse circumstances than they had been in before their involvement in photography classes.^[2] Critics argued that the lives and family circumstances of these children were too complex to be revolutionized by educating one family member in photography, or even by sending them to boarding school. The documentary itself acknowledges that many of those saved from the red light district and put into boarding school ended up leaving the school and returning to their families before long.

In November 2006, Kids with Cameras provided an update on many of the children's conditions, asserting that they had entered high schools or universities in India and the United States, or found employment outside of prostitution.^[3]

[edit] Awards

2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Bermuda International Film Festival - Audience Choice Award - Briski, Kauffman
- Documentary Prize - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Film - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Audience Award - Briski, Kauffman (tied with World Wars
2004 National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary
2004 Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle Award - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award - Documentary - Kauffman

[edit] Nominations

Directors Guild of America 2005 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary - Briski, Kauffman
2005 Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture - Documentary
2004 International Documentary Association Award for Feature Documentaries - Briski, Kauffman, Dreyfous-White, Boll
2004 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Documentary - Kauffman, Briski