BORN Into BROTHELS

A truly compelling documentary certainly worthy of its Oscar win.

I needed a theatrical movie fix badly, and since the pickings are pretty sim at this time f year, I went to the only movie Itryly wanted to see. I couldn't stay for all, but I would wilingly see it all the way through

Everyone knows the basic premis, the chidren of Indian prostites who live ina totally sordid atmosphere, and whose change for escape is close to zero, because they cannot go to boarding schools because their parent is a criminal.

But this is hardly a Dickensian tale of poverty. The kids are great, and the scenes of them going to the beach or taking a taxi ride show the joy that is possible in simply being a kid. And, of course, it only increases our anxiety about their futures. And, that they have been given cameras to record what they see is extraordinary. A few years ago, documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick conducted an experiment in a LA high school where all of the seniors were given a video camera for a week where they had to film some significant aspect of their lives.
the resulting fim was one of my favorites.

The Indian children were only given a still camera, but some of the work could be on exhibit.

What is astonishing, and also disturbing, is how kid-like they are, growing up in the pathology of prostitution. But, occasionally, in some well-selected close up, we see the anxiety about the future, especially in the eyes.

Some questions remain - the extraordinary access to the subjewct matter, but I was impressed by the filmmaker, neither teacher nor social worker, who not only worked hard to get the children into the kind of educational program that could get them hope, but, more important, that by giving them cameras, she also gave them the gift of self-expression. But amidst the hope, the film still has this sense of futility, not unlike the caste system that dominated India for so long.

BORN INTO BROTHELS is a remarkable film.