I was always curious to see the documentary film that beat Super Size Me during Awards Season, I read more about this Indian-American film, and it did sound like something that could be either fascinating or uncomfortable and shocking viewing, either way I was interested to watch it. Basically it is about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, India's largest red light district, in Kolkata, aka Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal. Documentary photographer Zana Briski went to Calcutta to photograph the prostitutes, while there she befriended the children and offered to teach them photography. The children were given cameras, so they could learn photography and perhaps improve their lives, their photographs depicted the harsh daily lives for children in the red light district. The children's work was exhibited, with one boy sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam, and Briski also recorded their efforts to get into boarding schools. However, many did not stay in the schools they were placed in, for various reasons, with the exceptions of Avijit and Kochi, who went on with their education, and were graded well. It is obviously poignant, to see an underworld life in a child's eyes, especially for ones born into brothels, and especially their photographs depicting the streets and people around them. To be honest, I found the elderly woman using highly offensive language towards the children, to do their chores, more disturbing, the children are vibrant characters, they may be living in difficult situations, but they embark on transformational journeys, overall it is an interesting documentary. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Good!
