The most stigmatized people in Calcutta’s red light district, are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother’s fate or for creating another type of life. In Born into Brothels, directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius that reside in these children who live in the most sordid and seemingly hopeless world. The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging, and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force. Devoid of sentimentality, Born into Brothels defies the typical tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly. Briski spends years with these kids and becomes part of their lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery, and a true testimony of the power of the indelible creative spirit.

Ross Kauffman Worked as a documentary film editor from 1992 - 2000. In 1994 he be-gan a longstanding working relationship with producer and editor Sam Pollard, editing diverse projects such as Hookers of the Point, one of the highest rated America undercover documentaries in HBO’s history. Sin-ce 2000, he has been reaching out to different aspects of documentary production. Recently, he has begun producing and directing independent documentaries.

“Zana then sent me 4 videotapes that she had shot in Calcutta for me to criticise (she had never shot video before). Within the first ten minutes of viewing the first tape, I knew I was going to Calcutta. I am eternally grateful to Zana and the Kids for sharing their lives with me.” ROSS KAUFFMAN

Zana Briski was born in London, England. After earning a master’s degree in theology and religious studies at the University of Cambridge, she stu-died documentary photography at International Center of Photography in New York. In 1995 she made her first trip to India, producing a story on female infanticide. In 1997 she returned to India and began her project on the prostitutes of Calcutta’s red light district. She has won numerous awards and fellowships including the first prize at the World Press Photo Foundation Competition.

“(Ross) was worried about the story. I told him to wait. The story would reveal itself. And it did.” ZANA BRISKI