Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)

I had seen my previous dead serious documentary feature (as opposed to kiddie fluff) more than two years ago. These viewings may not be fun, but I think they're enriching enough to be worth my unhappiness now and then.

It sounds like Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman did not set out to document the children in particular, let alone to change their lives. Zana wanted to photograph the prostitutes, who were disinclined to agree, since they feared legal trouble. To get on their good side, she launched a junior photography class. Then she realized that she might be able to help the kids have more of a choice for what to do in the future, whether that meant professional camerawork or just learning and living in a better environment.

Yeah, there's an awfully heavy focus on preadolescents (eight in particular) for an R movie. The rating does not come from any explicitly sexual material. A man does drugs briefly on screen, but the main objectionable content consists of prostitutes cussing angrily in Bengali, often at the kids. At one point, the abuse veers from verbal to physical. Not that the kids act particularly unhappy much of the time; it's the only world they've known.

People in India may complain about the unflattering depiction, but hey, it wasn't staged. At worst, the filmmakers omitted some nice points. And I don't really care whether they were exploitative or evoked "White Saviors" as long as they stood to make a positive difference.

Did they succeed? In part. A few kids left the brothel for good before they'd be pressured to do worse than regular chores. A source from this calendar year tells me that most can no longer be traced, but one talented young photographer entered a lucrative career. To me, he alone made it all worth the hassle.

Speaking of hassle, if you get nothing else out of this doc, you should appreciate the revelation of just how hard it is for kids like them to escape to other options -- not because of the illegal element so much as the law-abiding culture. Boarding schools of any repute want no dealings with children of career criminals. And the bureaucratic requirements for their travel become almost unnavigable. (Imagine how much worse it might be today.)

The shared photos themselves? Their subjects vary from beautiful to squalid. You don't really get the latter from Bollywood productions. I suspect that's a reason for their presentation in art shows. A child's-eye view is a bonus.

I had had BIB in my queue for many years before getting the nerve to watch. At 85 minutes, it wasn't too painful. You might want to sit through it as well.