I watched this film today and am amazed at the resilience of some in this world. These children live in the red light district of Calcutta with mothers who are prostitutes. In one family, the mother, the grandmother and the great-grandmother had all been prostitutes. These children become exposed to another world through the actions of a photographer who lived amongst them and chronicled their life.
She eventually teaches the children how to take their own photographs. The images and talent are amazing. One of the children travels to Amsterdam to take part in a world wide show of childrens' photographs. The film is amazing and has it's own bittersweet tale to tell.
The film reminds me of the movie Salaam Bombay that was Mira Nair's first fictional film. It tells the story of street children in Bombay and was also filmed in some of the actual brothels of the city and also used some of the street children in the cast.
Both of these movies bring home how differently poverty and child welfare are viewed internationally. It is heartbreaking and overwhelming when I look around and see how much there is and how few can access it. These are not the only children in need. These are the children that we see. How many don't we see?
4 comments:
I have this on my netflix queue. I can't wait to see it.
hi there.
this is a terrific post! thank you! have noted the names of the films you've mentioned... they sound fascinating, if not somewhat tragic and gutwrenching.
with thanks, and cheers.
I've made several trips to India and spent a lot of time there in the last 10 years, visiting many of its diverse regions. Your comment about the many we don't see is an important one. It doesn't matter where you go in India- children's issues are apparent everywhere. Most seem doomed from birth to those who care to notice them and think of the quality of their lives (many Indians I know couldn't be bothered). This is a country where it is still normal to include the father's name and occupation on their resumes. Family background matters a lot. Sure, there are success stories of people pulling themselves up out of the gutter, but for children working in or associated in other ways with the sex-trade, the social stigma is inescapable. In 1997, there was a Belgian woman with a bad hip and a cane who would bust into brothels in the red light district of Bombay who physically removed young girls. I find myself continuing to wonder what sort of lives await them even after their rescue. This is a set of issues I feel very strongly about and hope to address some day through setting up a charitable organization and/or partering with a local organization. While our individual nations all have problems to deal with, I do believe that the foreign community serves an important function in bringing children's rights to the fore. I really appreciated your post.
this film has been talked about a lot, and so has the film-maker, she has done a wonderful job. india is full of such human-interest stories - they are a slice of our lives
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