BuzzFlash Reviews

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

This is a remarkable documentary that squeezes an ounce of hope out of the dismal, seedy life of a Calcutta neighborhood of prostitutes. Seen through the prism of the innocence of children of multi-generational "sex-workers" and through the lenses of their cameras, "Born Into Brothels" offers a scintillating experience of documentary photographs taken by young people within a documentary about them and their squalid social conditions.

At the center of the film is a female photographer who becomes mentor, teacher and advisor to a group of remarkable youth who learn to see the cul-de-sac of their family lives in a different light, by turning the world into art with a camera. Despite its dreary setting, this is not a somber film. In fact, it revels in the opportunity and hope of childhood, even if circumstances often conspire against it being fully realized.

Zana Briski is the New York-based photographer -- "Mother Teresa" with a camera -- who embraces these children by teaching them how to see the world through a view finder -- and breathtaking things begin to happen.

"Born into Brothels" is testament to how one person can make a striking difference in the direction of the lives of young people; of the power of art to transform even children; of the implacable force of destiny for some and the power to change for others. It is a mesmerizing glimpse into a sliver of Indian culture rarely seen, to be sure. The stars are not the prostitutes, but their children who glow with their innocent curiosity as a westerner called "auntie" leads them into worlds they never knew existed.

The film moves at a quick pace, interspersed with Indian music. Ingeniously edited, it is the winner of the 2005 Academy Award for best documentary, and deservedly so.

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS