https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Born_into_BrothelsBorn into Brothels - Revision history2026-07-30T21:33:39ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Born_into_Brothels&diff=110106&oldid=prev>Citation bot at 10:14, 10 May 20212021-05-10T10:14:54Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|2004 film by Zana Briski}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}<br />
{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids<br />
| image = Born into Brothels.jpg<br />
| caption = <br />
| director = [[Zana Briski]]<br>Ross Kauffman<br />
| producer = Zana Briski<br>Ross Kauffman<br />
| writer = Zana Briski<br>Ross Kauffman<br />
| starring = Shanti Das<br>Puja Mukerjee<br>Avijit Halder<br>Suchitra<br />
| music = John McDowell<br />
| cinematography = Zana Briski<br>Ross Kauffman<br />
| editing = Ross Kauffman<br />
| distributor = [[THINKFilm]]<br>[[HBO]]<br />
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|2004|01|17}} ([[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]])<br />{{start date|df=yes|2005|12|8}}<br />
| runtime = 85 minutes<br />
| country = United States<br />India<br />
| language = Bengali<br />English<br />
| budget = <br />
| gross = $3,515,061 (USA) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bornintobrothels.htm |title=Born Into Brothels (2004) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=14 July 2005 |access-date=12 July 2012}}</ref><br />
}}<br />
'''''Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids''''' is a 2004 Indian-American documentary film about the children of [[Prostitution in India|prostitutes]] in [[Sonagachi]], [[Kolkata]]'s [[red light district]]. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by [[Zana Briski]] and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] in 2005.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/299929/Born-Into-Brothels/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228114417/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/299929/Born-Into-Brothels/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 December 2007 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007 |title=Born into Brothels |access-date=23 November 2008}}</ref><br />
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==Plot==<br />
Briski, a [[documentary photography|documentary photographer]], went to Kolkata to photograph prostitutes. While there, she befriended their children and offered to teach the children photography to reciprocate being allowed to photograph their mothers. The children were given cameras so they could learn [[photography]] and possibly improve their lives. Their photographs depicted a life in the [[red light district]] through the eyes of children typically overlooked and sworn off to do chores around the house until they were able to contribute more substantially to the family welfare. Much of their work was used in the film, and the filmmakers recorded the classes as well as daily life in the red light district. The children's work was exhibited, and one boy was even sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam. Briski also recorded her efforts to place the children in boarding schools although many of the children did not end up staying very long in the schools they were placed in. Others, such as Avijit and Kochi not only went on to continue their education, but were graded well.<br />
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==Aftermath==<br />
There is debate about the extent to which the documentary has improved the lives of the children featured in it.{{citation needed|date=June 2008}}<br />
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The filmmakers claim that the lives of children appearing in ''Born into Brothels'' have been transformed by money earned through the sale of photos and a book on them. Ross Kauffman, co-director of the documentary, says that the amount earned is $100,000 (about [[Rupee|Rs.]]4.5 million), which will pay for their tuition and for a school in India for children of prostitutes. Briski has started a [[NGO|non-profit organization]] to continue this kind of work in other countries, named Kids with Cameras.<ref>[http://kids-with-cameras.org Kids with Cameras website]</ref> A film is being made on the life story of a high-profile trio of call girl sisters, Shaveta, Khushboo and Himani, born in one of the brothels of Haryana.<br />
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In November 2006, Kids with Cameras provided an update on many of the children's conditions, asserting that they had entered high schools or universities in India and the United States or found employment outside of prostitution{{Citation needed|date = December 2015}}. Kids with Cameras continues to work toward improving the lives of children from the Calcutta red light district with the plan to build a Hope House.<ref>[http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/school/ Hope House] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922150420/http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/school/ |date=22 September 2008 }}</ref> Updates for 2010 and 2009 were also published.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/news/?page=2010-07-15-calcuttaupdate.incl |title=Update on the Kids of Calcutta |date=July 2010 |website=Kids with Cameras |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007202824/http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/news/?page=2010-07-15-calcuttaupdate.incl |archive-date=7 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/news/?page=2009-04-23-calcuttaupdate.incl |title=Update on the Kids of Calcutta |date=April 2009 |website=Kids with Cameras |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423035548/http://kids-with-cameras.org/news/?page=2009-04-23-calcuttaupdate.incl |archive-date=23 April 2015}}</ref><br />
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In 2004, REACT to FILM organized a screening for ''Born into Brothels'' at the [[Soho House (club)|SoHo House]] in Manhattan, NY. In 2010, the film's director, [[Zana Briski]], joined the advisory board of REACT to FILM.<ref>{{cite web|title=React to Film|url=http://ninunina.com/2011/11/07/react-to-film/|work=Ninunina.com|access-date=17 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426072417/http://ninunina.com/2011/11/07/react-to-film/|archive-date=26 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><br />
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==Criticisms==<br />
The [[Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee]], a prostitutes' organization active in Sonagachi, has criticized the film for presenting the children's parents as abusive and for ignoring the prostitutes' efforts to provide education programs and career building activities for their children.<ref>{{cite web|title=Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee- Education|url=http://www.durbar.org/html/education.asp|access-date=18 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903085846/http://durbar.org/html/education.asp|archive-date=3 September 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In addition, the film has been criticized in India for perceived [[racist]] [[stereotyping]], and has also been viewed as exploiting the children for the purposes of [[Indophobia|Indophobic]] propaganda in the West.<ref name="Frontline">[http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2208/stories/20050422000408100.htm A missionary enterprise], by [[Praveen Swami]] in Washington D C, Frontline</ref> A review in [[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]], India's national magazine, summarized this criticism, remarking:<br />
{{quote|IF ''Born Into Brothels'' were remade as an adventure-thriller in the tradition of ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'', its posters might read: "New York film-maker Zana Briski [[The White Man's Burden|sallies forth among the natives to save souls]].<ref name="Frontline" />}}<br />
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Some critics joined the Sonagachi prostitute-advocacy groups in condemning the film for exploitation of the plight of the prostitutes for profit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2208/stories/20050422000408100.htm|title=A missionary enterprise|last=Swami|first=Praveen|date=2005|website=www.frontline.in|access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref> Other criticisms were raised about "ethical and stylistic" problems, by Partha Banerjee, interpreter between the filmmakers and the children.<ref name="Kolkata connection at the Oscars">{{cite web|url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/050302/32/2jxw2.html |title=Kolkata connection at the Oscars |access-date=2009-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050303170740/http://in.news.yahoo.com/050302/32/2jxw2.html |archive-date=3 March 2005 |df=dmy }}, Yahoo news</ref><br />
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==Reception==<br />
===Critical response===<br />
''Born into Brothels'' has an approval rating of 95% on [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 108 reviews, and an average rating of 7.83/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A powerful and uplifting documentary".<ref>https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/born_into_brothels</ref> [[Metacritic]] assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>https://www.metacritic.com/movie/born-into-brothels-calcuttas-red-light-kids</ref><br />
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===Awards===<br />
* 2004 Bermuda International Film Festival Audience Choice Award - Briski, Kauffman; Documentary Prize - Briski, Kauffman<br />
* 2004 [[Cleveland International Film Festival]] Best Film - Briski, Kauffman<br />
* 2004 [[Full Frame Documentary Film Festival]] Audience Award - Briski, Kauffman (tied with [[Word Wars]])<br />
* 2004 [[International Documentary Association]] Award for Feature Documentaries - Briski, Kauffman, [[Geralyn Dreyfous|Geralyn Dreyfous-White]], Pamela Boll (tied with ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'')<br />
* 2004 [[National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary Feature]] - Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman<br />
* 2004 [[Seattle International Film Festival#Golden Space Needle (Best Film) and SIFF Awards for Best Short and Documentary|Seattle International Film Festival]] Golden Space Needle Award for Best Documentary - Briski, Kauffman<br />
* 2004 [[Sundance Film Festival]] Audience Award, Documentary - Kauffman<br />
* 2005 [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] Briski, Kauffman<br />
* 2005 [[Raindance Film Festival]] Closing Night Film<br />
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===Nominations===<br />
* 2005 [[Directors Guild of America]] [[Directors Guild of America Awards|Award]] for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary - Briski, Kauffman<br />
* 2005 [[Satellite Award for Best Documentary Film|Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture, Documentary]]<br />
* 2004 [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]] for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film - Kauffman, Briski<br />
* 2004 [[Sundance Film Festival]] [[List of Sundance Film Festival award winners|Grand Jury Prize]], Documentary - Kauffman, Briski<br />
* 2013 Calcutta Film Festival (funded by [[Walt Disney Pictures]]), Documentary - Spielberg, Steven. Lucas, George. Abrams, J. J.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{IMDb title|id=0388789|title=Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids}}<br />
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|born_into_brothels}}<br />
* {{Amg movie|299929|Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids}}<br />
* {{Mojo title|bornintobrothels}}<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050307235709/http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=42484 Movie on Kolkata brothels wins Oscar], a report in [[The Indian Express]]<br />
* [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050210/REVIEWS/50127004/1023 Review of the movie] by [[Roger Ebert]]<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051029005312/http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/home/ The official site of pictures taken by kids]<br />
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{{Navboxes<br />
| title = Awards for ''Born into Brothels''<br />
| list =<br />
{{AcademyAwardBestDocumentaryFeature2001-2020}}<br />
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film}}<br />
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary Film}}<br />
}}<br />
{{Prostitution in India}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Born Into Brothels}}<br />
[[Category:2004 films]]<br />
[[Category:2004 documentary films]]<br />
[[Category:Indian films]]<br />
[[Category:Indian documentary films]]<br />
[[Category:American documentary films]]<br />
[[Category:American films]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali-language films]]<br />
[[Category:Indian-American films]]<br />
[[Category:English-language films]]<br />
[[Category:English-language Indian films]]<br />
[[Category:Documentary films about prostitution in India]]<br />
[[Category:Documentary films about children]]<br />
[[Category:Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners]]<br />
[[Category:Sundance Film Festival award winners]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Kolkata]]<br />
[[Category:Photography in India]]<br />
[[Category:2000s Bengali-language films]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by Ross Kauffman]]</div>>Citation bot