Watch this when
Born into Brothels
They were handed a camera and a chance to frame their own world. What would you shoot if you could show people how you really see things?
Who it's for
The children's photographs are the heart of the film: they show how making something turns an overwhelming environment into something you can frame, choose and name, a simple form of agency.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 documentary by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman about children of sex workers in Sonagachi, the red-light district of Kolkata, India. Briski, a documentary photographer, teaches the children photography, and the film follows their classes, their pictures and their daily lives.
Where to find it
Rent or buy on major digital stores. Streaming availability rotates; check JustWatch.
Before you start
Heads up: Children in unsafe environments.
Age: Not verified (suggested 14+)
Do not say, "It is morning," and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a new-born child that has no name.Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, no. 235
