Audrey Howell - Blog Entry #8
Born into Brothels is a documentary about the lives of children that live in the Red Light District of Calcutta. All these children are born into brothels and are set to become sex slaves if they don't get out. Zana Briski (the children call her Zana Auntie), follows the children around and films their lives inside the brothels. She also teaches them about photography and all she wants is to get them out of the brothels and put them into boarding schools.
Throughout this documentary, we meet a few of the children (Kochi, Tapasi, Shanti, Manik, Puja, Gour, Suchitra, and Avijit). Each child gets a camera and you really get to see their passion for photography.
Kochi is a quiet child who does chores for money. She mops twice a day and goes shopping at night for her family. She dreams about getting an education and wonders what her life would be like if she did so. Kochi lives with her grandmother due to her father trying to sell her. Her grandmother wants her to go to boarding school because of how hard of a life she has had.
Tapasi wants to be a photographer. She wants to help take care of her sister and get out of the brothel. Tapasi's mother is very disrespectful to her. She says extremely mean things to her but Tapasi doesn't care because that's her mother.
Shanti and Manik are brother and sister. They both love taking the photography class. Their parent don't let Shanti go anywhere but they allow Manik to go anywhere he wants. Shanti says that Manik beats her up if she get to close and ruins one of his many kites and she would be okay if they were separated. Manik also says that his mom is worried about Shanti's future.
Puja is a very strong child. Each of the women in her family are prostitutes, but out of all the children in the village, she is the most well-dressed. She is also very sharing and shares her food with everyone. Puja's mother spoils her and doesn't want her to leave.
Gour cares for Puja very much. All he wants is to take care of her and take her away so she doesn't end up on the streets. He says he like photography because he can show people how they live in the village. He feels that their village is filthy and he has never seen anything like it.
Suchitra has lived a hard life. Her mother is dead and her aunt want to send her to Bombay to work 'in the line'. All the women in her family are 'in the line'. All her aunt wants is to make money off of her. Suchitra wants to get an education just like the rest of the children.
Avijit feels that every time he has the camera in his hand, he can take a picture of someone who has been lost or dead and have something that he'll be able to look at for the rest of his life. He also loves to draw and paint because he can express what's on his mind. He is a fantastic painter for his age and has won a lot of prizes. His father is addicted to smoking has. His mother is gone and all his father does is smoke all day. Avijit tries to love his father but it is difficult. His mother still lives in the village, but no one cares for her.
Zana has a connection with the children. The children ask her to help them but there is nothing she can do because she's not heir parents. Throughout the film, you see all the photographs the children have taken and you can clearly see that they have a passion for it. All the children want to go to boarding school so they can get a better education and they can get out of the brothel.
There are a lot of steps to apply to boarding school. Most of the parents have lost their children's ration cards and it takes a long time to receive a new one. They also need their birth certificates and medical certificates. All of the kids are tested for HIV and if they are positive then they won't be able to apply. They find out that all the children do not have HIV so they proceed with the application process. Zana decides to sell the photographs the children have taken so she can earn grant money for them. They are being auctioned off in New York to raise this money. After the auction, they decide to have an exhibition for their photographs at the Oxford Bookstore in their town. The exhibition is a hit and a lot of people show up including their families. Towards the end of the documentary, we learn that Avijit's mother died because her pimp burned her alive. Due to his mother dying, his passion for photography starts to disappear. We also learn that he was invited to Amsterdam to be a part of a photography contest called World Press Photo, but Zana couldn't get a passport for him because he lives in the Red Light District.
Some of the kids have been accepted into a boarding school. It is up to the parents if the children can go or not. The parents can remove their children whenever they want, but they cannot take them out of school for wedding ceremonies, deaths of relatives, births, etc. Zana then meets with Tim, a man who runs a boys boarding school specifically for children who live in bad neighborhoods. She says that she is worried about Avijit the most because she doesn't want him to turn into his father. She's afraid that he will become lost and won't be able to leave the brothel. Avijit will not go to school if they put him two grades behind the grade he is now, but Manik decides to go. All the girls leave for boarding school. There are some that are sad about leaving, but they know that it is what's best for them. Towards the end of the documentary, we see that Avijit finally gets a passport and is able to go to Amsterdam.
At the end of the documentary, we get updates on each of the children. We learn that Avijit returned to Calcutta and decided to enter the Future Hope School that Zana chose for him. Manik did not go to school due to his father. Puja's mother withdrew her from the Sabera school and Shanti left the school as well. Gour still lives at home but hopes to attend university. Tapasi ran away from home and went to the Sanlaap School for Girls. Suchitra's aunt would not let her leave the brothel and therefore did not go to school. Kochi is the only girl that chose to stay at Sabera.
Overall, I thought this documentary was very good. You truly don't know what life for children is like in a brothel, and this documentary captures that. It really broke my heart to see how these children were treated by their parents and by people they didn't know. I wish that all of the children were allowed to go to school and be free from that place, but their parents won't let them go due to them having a future in prostitution.
CERTAIN BIAS & BLIND SPOTS/MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
I believe that there was no bias in this documentary. Yes, this whole documentary was about the children and their lives in the brothel, but there was no prejudice for or against them.
In my opinion, I believe this documentary was very well made and I think Zana and the rest of the crew did a fantastic job with showing life in and out of the brothel. So, I do not think there were any blind spots or missed opportunities.
SUBJECT BROUGHT UP IN FILM THAT RELATE TO TOPICS DISCUSSED IN CLASS
The main subject that was brought up in the film that we have discussed in class is slavery. I felt that these children were slaves to their families and to everyone in the brothel. When slavery was around in the U.S., colored women were bought and used and that's how these children are and are going to be in the future. These children will be sex slaves if they don't leave the brothel and get the education that they all have dreamed about.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE DOCUMENTARY AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT?
There were a lot of things I learned from the documentary, but the main thing was how life is really like for children living in a brothel. I was disgusted by the living conditions they were win and also how their parents treated hem. There were some parents who could cuss at their children and wouldn't care whether they hurt their feelings or not. Throughout the documentary, you see how much these kids want to leave the brothel and go to school and to university and become anything they want to be. However, most of them can't do that because their parents want them to be sex slaves so they can earn money and take care of their families.
IN YOUR OPINION, DO YOU THINK "NEVER AGAIN" CAN BECOME A REALITY? IF SO, EXPLAIN. FURTHERMORE ARE THERE ANY WAYS IN WHICH YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THIS SITUATION?
I believe that "never again" can become a reality one day. Every day we see something on the news about child slavery, sex slavery, and genocide. I believe that if there was a way to stop all these things from happening, then most definitely "never again" can become a reality. Many people are scared to speak up about something like slavery or genocide because they don't want to be threatened and possibly harmed by someone or a group of people that take part in that. If people opened up their mouths and said how they feel, then things would most likely, in the end, stop.
As an individual, there are many things you can do to have an impact on this situation. One thing is to speak up and have a rally of support for the victims of slavery, genocide, or anything related to both. By doing this, you are speaking up about a situation and this could help stop what is happening. Another thing you could do is to start a charity. By starting a charity, you can earn money and have it sent to people in need or you can save it and use it to campaign in stopping the problem. There are many things you can do to have an impact on the situation, but your voice is the main one and people should speak up and say how they feel. By doing that, you are helping spread the world and that's what should matter.
One question I have is if Zana is still in contact with any of the children from the documentary, and if so, how are they today? Since this film was released in 2004, they have obviously grown up and I just want to know if any of them have left the brothel.
