Born into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, is a tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art. It is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of these youngsters a camera and teaches them how to take pictures, simultaneously causing them to look at their world with new eyes. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities, and a true testimony to the power of the indelible creative spirit. Zana Briski is a photographer led by passion and intuition. She spent the past eight years on an odyssey that began with photographing the women of Calcutta's brothels and led to teaching their children photography. She also founded Kids with Cameras, a non-profit organization that strives to transform the lives of marginalized children through learning the art of photography. Ross Kauffman is the director, producer, cinematographer and co-editor of this documentary. Kauffman worked as a documentary film editor from 1992 - 2000. “He spent three years at Valkhn Film and Video Inc., a post-production company where he worked on a wide variety of films for HBO, WNET/THIRTEEN National Geographic and The Discovery Channel” (Kids with Cameras). 
This documentary uses photography and film to explore the lives of several sons and daughters of prostitutes in the City's brothels. This is an exceptional technique used by filmmakers to expose the true reality of the district. The documentary specifically focuses on eight children who are doomed by poverty. Each child has a devastating story but their positivity is appeasing. The filmmakers use photography to tell the stories of the children living in the brothels. It is an unusual but successful method as the audience can see and feel the world of those children. They take pictures of street scenes and at the zoo; at the beach, they gleefully charge into the tide and return with joyous pictures of the beach and the rolling ride. Each child has a passion for photography and is eager to show the reality of their lives. “I want to show in pictures how people live in this city. I want to put across the behaviour of man” (Gour). [One of the children]
Another exceptional technique that the filmmakers have used is the constant presence of the setting. This helps to get an understanding of the background and culture of the children. The setting is unintentionally alarming and distressing. The surroundings complement and balance the issue of prostitution. The filmmakers have emphasized on the location because it is a whole other world in that district. There are narrow alleys, men drinking and smoking persistently, helpless prostitutes queuing up, and children running around. It is unreal but true. The essence of the documentary is felt through the projection of the surrounding. It is commendable to film in such areas as it is difficult and challenging for any filmmaker. Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman have demonstrated the truth in a whole new prospective. The filmmakers' approach to the material makes it palatable, and their grittier style has added depth and power to the documentary. 
The documentary is a devastating portrait of impoverished Calcutta children who are born into the sex trades, yet the film is also an inspiring document about human possibilities and the need to strive despite impossible odds. Despite the bleak subject matter, Born into Brothels contains moments of pure elation. The film is truly an unsentimental look at how beauty, artistry, and hope can emerge from the most unexpected of places. Zana Briski doesn't merely document the children's milieu. Instead, she does something revolutionary: She empowers them to document it for themselves. It is a film that's ultimately more charmingly bittersweet than truly disturbing.
Born into Brothels. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2010, from
http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/
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