Born Into Brothels Essay Example

An intense portrayal of life at the extremes, Born into Brothels is a movie that challenges our perception of human resilience. The documentary takes place in Calcutta, India, home to one of the oldest populations and religious doctrines in the world. India is a country with an extraordinary history, yet suffers from massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extreme poverty, and religious strife. (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html) Calcutta is the second largest city in India and one of the largest in the world, the square mileage of its metropolitan area measured at 228.5 sq mi. Within this unforgiving landscape is the red light district, a city within a city, known to openly display many of society's most forbidden practices. Here, women have few options other than "walking the line" (prostitution) or cleaning houses, and many of the men suffer from drug abuse or alcoholism. Crime, murder, and HIV/AIDS are prevalent and families with as many as of seven people live in spaces no bigger than most Americans, living rooms. In the red light district, not only do individuals suffer in this harsh reality, every aspect of existence is tainted by its acute condition.
Born into Brothels however, is a story about the power of human imagination and determination. It chronicles the amazing lives of eight youth living in one of Calcutta's most notorious red light districts. Co-directed by Zana Briski, Born into Brothels follows Briski's efforts to teach photography to and access better educational opportunities for this group of children. The movies' main characters are the kids from the red light district. Kochi, age 10, is strong and resilient and uses her camera to escape her surroundings. Avijit, age 12, is a true artist, the most talented of the children and has an equally talented ego. Shanti, age 11, loves to photograph and even is crafty with the video camera, yet she is somewhat of a primadona. Manik, age 10, has a very gentle