"Born Into Brothels" - 10 stars out of 5.

I just finished watching a phenomenal documentary. It's called "Born Into Brothels," and if you have Netflix and you don't add it to your queue right now (or by the time you finish this article), you're missing something not only powerfully moving, but also immensely important.

I added the film to my own queue because the title intrigued me. I haven't written a post on this topic yet, and I feel I should have by now, but the lives of sex workers have long tugged my attention in their direction. Not because I would want to join their lifestyle, but I do feel for them. "Sex workers" is the term I (and many others) use to refer to a wide range of people, mostly women, who, well, have jobs in the sex industry (not porn--that's different). More commonplace terms for these women (while there are certainly men in the industry, I will be saying "women," mostly because "people" is too general but also because it's women's live that it affects the most overall) are words like prostitutes, whores, etc. Some of these women went into the job by choicel; others had no choice but sex work. These women are routinely abused and violently raped.

If you're thinking, "These women have sex for a living; how can they get raped?" take a second to reconsider. Just because you work in a restaurant doesn't mean you want to wait tables when you're off duty. Just because you fly planes doesn't mean you want to be in that plane when it's taken hostage and hijacked. Just because these women have sex to pay the bills doesn't mean they want to sleep with every man who comes their way. Sex workers can be raped just as easily as a wife can be raped by her husband. And, in both cases but extremely often in the former, they are often violent and damaging--physically, emotionally, and mentally.
If you have a problem with me considering the emotions of sex workers as viable and worthy of concern, then feel free to leave this blog, though I'd rather you don't. Because these women do have emotions, and they do have lives, and they do have the same delicate inner workings that the rest of us do--even if their world forces them to harden.

The lives of these women is made even harder by society's treatment of them. They are shunned on every level--no one wants to identify with a prostitute, no society wants to support them, no law enforcement agency will give them a break. But as I said before, while some of these women went into the job by choicel, others (read: most) had no choice but sex work.

And that situation is where "Born Into Brothels" comes in. The documentary is not about the sex workers themselves. (If anyone knows of any documentaries or reading material that focuses on the sex workers themselved, let me know; I always love a good film or book.) The women play a strong, albeit almost background, role in the film, but the real focus is on their children. The documentary takes place in the Red Light District in Calcutta, India, one of the poorest and most overcrowded cities on the planet. "Auntie Zana," a British photographer and the producer of the film, comes there to live among the people in the Red Light District there and work with the women there, and the film begins a few years into her life in India. She ends up teaching the children of the neighborhood, grows especially close with one particular group: Avijit, Gour, Kochi, Manik, Puja, Shanti, Suchitra, and Tapasi. All of these children are sons and daughters of sex worker mothers, whose mothers before them were often also prostitutes, even many generations back. Zana teaches the children photography and encourages them to record the life in their neighborhood, which was originally intended to help her document what really goes on around them since her cameras--video and still--would cause a disturbance because the people would be suspicious of her, perhaps even fight to destroy what she captures, because they live illegal lives, between the prostitution and the plethara of drugs in the area. However, over time, as the children learn more and more about photography, they begin to capture scenes that are extraordinarily beautiful, moving, horrifying, breathtaking, and just so, so true. They could evoke strong emotions from any audience--pictures of the children, of their families, of the filth of the city, of the many angles of the poverty around them. They truly are an amazing sight to see.

Zana begins a project to get these children out of their surroundings. Some of the girls, most ten and eleven, the oldest fourteen, have already begun to feel the pressure to continue the tradition, with relatives asking them when they could join, assuring each other that it's merely a matter of time. These girls would have no choice but to turn to prostitution if they remained where they were. The boys were not much better off; they are surrounded by so much shouting, so many drugs, so much violence--one child's mother was murdered by her pimp in her own kitchen--that Zana was the only positive influence they had ever had or likely ever would have. She looks around for boarding schools which will take the children, encountering dozens of obstacles: the parents can't find the original birth certificates, many schools will only accept children whose parents are not criminals, the schools require large tuition payments, the ration cards take weeks longer to get than expected, every child must get an HIV test and be negative for admittance, and convincing the children's parents to let them move to a boarding school proves difficult if not impossible in some cases. Zana fundraises by putting together exhibitions in the United States and even one in Calcutta of the children's photographs to raise money to send them to school. She searches out schools which will accept children from the Red Light background. She works furiously to receive then file the paperwork properly. She puts forth one of the most amazing life-changing efforts I have ever witnessed on any level.

I can't think of any other way to describe it. I am still so in awe of this film that I'm sure I have not been able to do it justice.

Buy it. Rent it. Whatever. Just watch it. Or if you have any hesitancy for whatever reason, take a look at the website: www.kids-with-cameras.org and have a look for yourself. But the website really does nothing compared to the film. It really is a must-see, especially anyone concerned with improving the human condition on this planet.

If you've seen the film, comment with your thoughts.

I will write a longer post on the topic of sex workers later. "Born Into Brothels" deserved a post. I'm sure you will agree once you see it.

Peace, love, and photography that can change a world,
~ RaeAn