Born Into Brothels | Rotten Tomatoes

Born Into Brothels

R

Released Jan 18, 2004

1 hr. 25 min.

Documentary

Biography

List

95%

107 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Documentary photographer Zana Briski journeyed into Calcutta's underworld to photograph the city's prostitutes. In return, she offered to teach the prostitutes' children the basics of photography so that the kids could document their own lives on the streets of one of the world's poorest cities. The resulting photographs, often astonishing, were exhibited around the world; many of them are seen in this film, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2005.

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Critics Consensus

A powerful and uplifting documentary.

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aynge m

I really enjoyed this one, and I wish there was a follow up so we can see what the kids are doing now, nearly 20 years later. I suspect the news would not be good. This is a documentary about a photographer meaning to photograph prostitutes ends up focusing more on their children whom she teaches her art. Two thumbs way up.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sensibly approached with mostly a one-sided focus as a prioritized mission rather than exactly digging deep for the whole picture only through nuanced pre-understandable glimpses. The documented mission uplifts in hope towards brightened innocence of unsung creativity, with sympathy over their unfairly sealed living conditions stemming psychoanalysis towards negatively maintained conditions. Optimistically spirited with passionate education, but it raises a question how much can heal and persuade parental struggles for what a better livelihood actually means to them, and that's what this strong documentary is informatively spreading to raise enough awareness to trigger help that needs more than acceptance. (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As contrived as it feels at times, it is devastatingly tragic watching the kids and their families make what are often damaging life changing decisions. These kids are born into a hopeless future and only this small handful were given any out owing to your typical white saviour western hipster. By the end it's hard not to feel warmth and sadness for these kids.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I feel like an awful person saying this, because it makes me seem insensitive to the plight of those less fortunate than myself, but Born Into Brothels has a lot of qualities that make for my least favorite kind of documentaries. It probably comes from a childhood of watching countless missionary slide shows and videos in church (that drag on for much longer than anyone expected,) but after a few minutes of seeing the miserable living conditions in certain regions of the world, I kind of get the point. Showing these sweet children being abused in every definition of the term is depressing instantly, and it never seems to stop. I feel helpless and worthless, and after some time watching it all unfold, I start to feel bad about myself and the privilege I’ve always been blessed with. I know it’s important to have regular reminders so we don’t forget those who live in worse conditions than ourselves, but it’s hard enough to watch in a 2-minute commercial, let alone a 90-minute film. Born Into Brothels takes a turn though. This is the case of a documentary filmmaker who is not comfortable merely documenting life, they seek to help improve the lives they see suffering. The whole documentary takes a sharp thematic turn and entirely changes focus and subject matter. While the kids involved are all the same it is not focusing on the drudgery of their lives as much, but on this opportunity that might be able to lift them out of their situation. It is rewarding to watch these kids find value in themselves, and it gives us as viewers some measure of hope for their lives. This aspect of the documentary is intriguing, and I thought it made the film more watchable and exciting. It also helped present some of the differences between the kids, so they became well-defined individuals. Sadly, it didn’t exactly lighten the mood as much as I hoped, and there were some harsh reminders that overcoming the situation we’re born into isn’t easy. I can’t say that Born Into Brothels is poorly made, or anything of that fashion, it’s just a style of film that is hard for me to sit through.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/25/19

Full Review

Audience Member

Born into Brothels Born into Brothels 2004 ????? Watched 09 Sep, 2016 Born Into Brothels is the most humanitarianism effort by a documentary film maker i have ever come across about notorious Calcutta's Red Light and the doomed future those prostitutes' children faces. What lies in the centre of this grim and harsh reality is a hopeful fight against what seems like a lost cause(trying to get these children out of this hell hole). This movie says everything it needs to say without being judgemental and a story which needs to be told involving these forgotten souls who left to suffer for all their life. And for Indian audiences- You will never listen to "Aaenkhein khuli ho ya ho band didar unka hota hai" in the same light.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

william s

Every time you think your lives tough you should think back to this wonderful little doc and count your blessings.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Zana Briski

Director

Ross Kauffman

Director

Avijit Halder

Actor

Shanti Das

Actor

Ross Kauffman

Writer

Zana Briski

Writer

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Richard Porton

Chicago Reader

Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's Born Into Brothels is both sustained and ultimately sunk by its lofty intentions.

Sep 29, 2017

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Sep 2, 2005

Full Review

Steven D. Greydanus

Decent Films

Briski doesn't merely document the children's milieu. Instead, she does something revolutionary: She empowers them to document it for themselves.

Rated: A-

Apr 4, 2005

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

A reminder of the power of the documentary to educate, inspire and share openly and honestly the world that surrounds us.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 4, 2020

Full Review

Jay Antani

Cinema Writer

an absorbing journey over gritty social terrain, driven by a fierce sense of purpose

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 20, 2012

Full Review

Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

This bond of trust between the filmmakers and their subjects exemplifies the kind of personal involvement that many documentary makers are striving for these days.

Jun 8, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Documentary photographer Zana Briski journeyed into Calcutta's underworld to photograph the city's prostitutes. In return, she offered to teach the prostitutes' children the basics of photography so that the kids could document their own lives on the streets of one of the world's poorest cities. The resulting photographs, often astonishing, were exhibited around the world; many of them are seen in this film, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2005.

Director: Zana Briski, Ross Kauffman
Executive Producer: Geralyn White Dreyfous
Screenwriter: Ross Kauffman, Zana Briski
Distributor: ThinkFilm
Rating: R (Sequences of Strong Language)
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 18, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.4M

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