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Yesterday I watched this documentary with my daughter; it won the 2005 Oscar for Best Documentary but somehow I had never heard of it until I saw it by accident at Blockbuster. Natch, I had to have it. India's brothels has been one of my secret passions ever since I researched one of my novels and spent some time in Bombay's Red Light District.
This movie is set in Calcutta, which is no different from Bombay, ie dreadful. And yet just look at the faces of these kids:
The film just tore me apart. Those children make you just want to reach out and grab them and yank them into some wonderful place, which is basically what the filmmaker did. The film tells the story of how "Aunty Zana" gave them cameras, taught them photography, and let them take their own photos. You can see these photos here: http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/
Some of them she managed to get into schools, but for some of them the story ended sadly. But the most impressive thing about the film is the kids themselves. They are so full of joy and life and sadness. There is hope and despair all mixed into one, and at the end they are just kids, like kids everywhere, playing and having fun and overflowing with energy, bright in every sense of the word. Zana took them to the zoo and the sea, and the amazement when they saw the ocean is just unforgettable!
The photos the kids took were exhibited in New York and other places and the whole "Kids with Cameras" project took off. Winning the Oscar of course gave new life to it all.
The film is a must have, and part of the proceeds goes towards the Kids with Cameras project.
This movie is set in Calcutta, which is no different from Bombay, ie dreadful. And yet just look at the faces of these kids:
The film just tore me apart. Those children make you just want to reach out and grab them and yank them into some wonderful place, which is basically what the filmmaker did. The film tells the story of how "Aunty Zana" gave them cameras, taught them photography, and let them take their own photos. You can see these photos here: http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/
Some of them she managed to get into schools, but for some of them the story ended sadly. But the most impressive thing about the film is the kids themselves. They are so full of joy and life and sadness. There is hope and despair all mixed into one, and at the end they are just kids, like kids everywhere, playing and having fun and overflowing with energy, bright in every sense of the word. Zana took them to the zoo and the sea, and the amazement when they saw the ocean is just unforgettable!
The photos the kids took were exhibited in New York and other places and the whole "Kids with Cameras" project took off. Winning the Oscar of course gave new life to it all.
The film is a must have, and part of the proceeds goes towards the Kids with Cameras project.
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