Born Into Brothels

I first saw this movie about three to four years ago. I had a friend who recently had a very raw experience ministering to brothel "families" in Haiti and I recommended it to her. I watched it again just a few days ago, not out of some morbid sense of placating my sometimes guilt of being so blessed...no, this documentary is an amazing, rare, look into a world most of us could never imagine...but need to know exists.

Exactly as the title suggests, the story centers around children who are literally Born Into Brothels. Photographer Zana Briski had established part-time residency in the red light district of Calcutta, India, in an attempt to win the trust of the prostitutes she wanted to photograph. She wanted to learn about their lives and record it for others. But what she quickly realized, and had not considered prior to this endeavor, was the overwhelming number of children who live everyday in the same red light district as their mothers and fathers that are earning a living selling their bodies, alcohol or drugs.

Briski decided to give the kids a chance to record life from their own perspective. Some of the photography from the kids is hauntingly beautiful and it is shared throughout the film.

Eventually, Briski works with other organizations, boarding schools and even art dealers to exhibit and sell the children's photographs in an attempt to fund an education for the children.

She realistically knows they need to go to boarding schools, because to remain in the neighborhood is certain doom. Yet, as I've been learning, sometimes you throw love at people...and they just don't believe they deserve it and cannot foresee a life different than the one they have. While working with other children prior to the making of the film, some of Briski's students were forced into "working the line" and she knows without drastic intervention all of these students are headed for the same destiny.

I highly encourage you to watch the movie and learn about a life you could hardly imagine and that there are people in this world...who without any claim to even doing it for religious reasons...dare to make a difference in the life of a child.

Born Into Brothels is free to watch on topdocumentaryfilms.com