By Timeo

 I really enjoyed Born Into Brothels last night, which is a documentary about the lives of nine children in one of Calcutta's many red light districts where their mothers work as prostitutes. The story unfolds first when Zana Briski, a NY-based photographer, comes to India to take photos of the brothels; when the children become fascinated with her camera, she decides to teach lessons for the kids there as a way to enrich their lives.

But the really amazing journey is the way that the kids grow and you watch them growing. Just the power of art and how it alters and affects the perception of themselves, their families, their surroundings; it gives them hope in one of these bleak and dark places. Especially troubling is the way that kids of 14 years of age are forced into prostitution by their parents because they need to survive somehow. It's terribly sad, and somehow kind of unreal since they're only children and do funny and stupid child-like things, but it's a powerful and moving tale of hope and friendship and the will to have something better.

No talking heads here, no rich Westerners bemoaning the lack of funding while sipping their lattes in Starbucks, just people trying to connect and trying to lift the children out of there and just the real reactions and the honesty that is found here. If you get the DVD, be sure to watch the video commentary when they go back to the brothels three years later and see them again and they all watch the documentary together. Often times cute and funny, but terribly poignant and tear-jerking during the more serious moments. A stirring tale.

4 out of 5 stars

[Editor’s note: you can find out more about the on-going Kids With Cameras project that was developed from this film’s success by clicking on the link.]