Born into Brothels | South China Morning Post

Directors: Ross Kaufmann and Zana Briski

The film: The title of Ross Kaufmann and Zana Briski's documentary - revolving around a group of children living in Calcutta's red-light district - might conjure images of gloom or depravity. But Born into Brothels dwells on neither. Rather than play up the sentimentalism that fuels many films about non-western underclasses - an approach that dehumanises subjects as merely a mass of unrecognisable and unrefined faces - Kaufmann and Briski find dignity, vigour and intellect in these unfortunate Indian children and present them as flesh-and-blood human beings.

Born into Brothels came into being when Briski, a New York-based photographer documenting the harsh life of Calcutta's prostitutes, noticed how much her camera inspired the local children. Keenly aware how little hope there is for them - it's almost inevitable that the girls will follow their mother's path and go 'in the line', and that the boys will inherit the abject poverty of their fore- bears - Briski took in nine pre-teen children and introduced them to photography.

The talents of the young photographers, armed with their cameras, are let out in a flurry of creative energy, giving them a platform to express themselves. The children are shown with their own fully-formed philosophies amid what one of them, Gour, describes as the 'chaos of city life'. These are thoughtful children who just happen to have been born into unfortunate circumstances. With their cameras, they are able to - again, according to Gour - 'put across the behaviour of man'.

Not that the desperation and gloom of the children's lives are glossed over. There's mild yet stern resistance from some of the parents. And officials insisted on HIV tests for the children before considering their applications for state sponsorship,

Nor does the project necessarily make their future much more promising - even though an exhibition of their pictures made national newspapers, and one of the children, Avijit, was invited to take part in a World Press Photo programme in Amsterdam. Several of the children still face life in Calcutta's dark alleyways.

The extras: Amid the wealth of bonus features - which included trailers, commentaries and the acceptance speech Kaufmann and Briski made at the Oscars this year for the best documentary award - the ones involving the children themselves are the most gripping.

The verdict: Born into Brothels gives a voice - to a certain extent - to the underclasses who are stripped of political representation. Even though it's seen through the eyes of two Americans, it's a step forward.

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