June 21, 2005 – The final movie of The Forum's 2005 Film Festival will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Caribbean Cinemas in Market Square East. From India, "Born Into Brothels" is a documentary with a twist that chronicles the lives of children born to Calcutta's prostitutes.
The twist in this 2004 Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture is that filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman asked the children to take photographs of the downtrodden red light district in which they live.
While these most stigmatized people in Calcutta's red light district master a new art form, the filmmakers struggle to give them an opportunity for a better life away from the poverty that threatens their dreams. Facing abject poverty, abuse, despair and hopelessness, these kids have little chance of creating a new life.
"Born Into Brothels" reveals a remarkable transformation as the children not only record what's around them, but express a spark of artistic genius. Examples of remarkable observation and talent, the photographs also reflect art as a liberating and empowering force.
Without sentimentality, "Born into Brothels" defies the typical tearstained tourist snapshot of the more sordid side of life in Calcutta. Briski spent years with the kids and became part of their lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery, and a true testimony to the power of the indelible, creative spirit.
Photographs taken by the children in "Born into Brothels" are for sale at www.kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery. All proceeds go directly to support the children's education.
Tickets are still available at the Reichhold Center for the Arts box office at 693-1599; Parrot Fish on Back Street; Interiors, Ft. Mylner; and inside the cinema complex.