Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, November 3 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 1 hr 59 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$15.51 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

Windhorse

Sold by

Windhorse

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Ships Directly from Amazon!

FREE delivery Tuesday, November 7 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$15.51 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Benjamins Bookshelf and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$11.01
+ $4.49 shipping

Sold by: pandabooks1978

Added

Not added

$14.26
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Outdoor Surplus Direct

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available
To view this video download Flash Player

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids

Rated:

Format: DVD

4.2 137 ratings

IMDb7.2/10.0

$15.51

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE Returns

$14.73 with 5 percent savings

New Condition Price: $15.51

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE Returns

DVD
$15.51

Additional DVD options

Edition

Discs

Price

New from

Used from

DVD
May 10, 2006

"Please retry"

—

$5.98

$2.00

DVD

"Please retry"

—

$10.56

$6.56

$2.01

DVD

"Please retry"

—

$15.51

$11.01

$7.99

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$15.51","priceAmount":15.51,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"51","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"zKLD4P8MvG%2B6pfsZN5k4mBvmvW%2BG0qpfEhjPUL5VB%2F0yCL6MO9mLKlcgFrGLXz%2BB4ZvzPeYLvB5CntIasDMv2OS1jNSZqhz%2BLhjmioZfN0ndTx2RMe%2FailjPePPtYQA833TUsW0zTGl%2F013HdNpWlrZlYNK2QWMdWAWJnlQpuu3l5JkeVCAwkw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$14.73","priceAmount":14.73,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"73","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"zKLD4P8MvG%2B6pfsZN5k4mBvmvW%2BG0qpfitA8ApPg%2FgdARumxoY4E64fzdkTy9iwy1aqIIVHjJ0Bm12cSgE27f1Mrt0YtD1z5PfxclqLx1g4wsyGIG6XKktZY%2FbcdidMpOcAF4ISRo1Q62kpObgvM8lGNyjPY7qRQZ%2F8nHnAnpHdP2Y7Q5tLjc%2Bc5Zj1I343R","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

Stephen Segerman
4,460
DVD
44 offers from $2.60
Nicolas Cage
13,390
DVD
28 offers from $4.87

Product Description

2004 ACADEMY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

BORN INTO BROTHELS is an inspiring look at the transformative journey of a group of extraordinary children in Calcuttas red light district. Voted Best Documentary by the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. BORN INTO BROTHELS, which was produced and directed by New York based filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, also garnered over 20 major film festival awards including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Best Documentary Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, BORN INTO BROTHELS 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. Together with Ross Kauffman, Briski captures the magical way in which beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places and how a bright and promising future becomes a possibility for children who previously had no future at all.

Touching and heartfelt, yet devoid of sentimentality, BORN INTO BROTHELS defies the tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly. Briski spent years with these children and became a part of their lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities, and a true testimony to the power of the indelible creative spirit.

Review

"A REMARKABLE AND MOVING STORY ABOUT THE POWER OF ART TO TRANSFORM LIVES." -- David Ansen, NEWSWEEK

"INSPIRING!" -- ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

"UPLIFTING!" -- A.O. SCOTT, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 0.71 Ounces
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
Language ‏ : ‎ Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1)
Studio ‏ : ‎ PDX
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000AJHITM

Best Sellers Rank: #206,101 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #156,308 in DVD

Customer Reviews:
4.2 137 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

137 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

nrunn

Great Story and Good for Teaching Analysis

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bought this to teach analysis in an AP English Language class... was great! I only showed clips to my students, but they 1.) immediately noticed all the layers in each scene; and 2.) really liked the documentary itself. Although it's not one I would watch over and over again on my own, I'll probably show a little more in class next year, and it's definitely a keeper.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Through the lens we see them as people

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

This documentary is a beautiful and painful look at the lives of the children of women who are prostituted in Calcutta and involved in other illegal industries around the red light district. In the fall of 2016 I spent three months working with children who were trafficked or abused in Nepal. I saw my children in the children in "Born into Brothels." This documentary highlights that these children are children. It is easy to label them and make them statistics and forget that they are children. But they are also children who are growing up in a red light district, forced to recognize that they might follow their mothers into sex work, not have food to eat tomorrow, or simply never leave this area (the biggest desire of many of the children). The filmmaker, Zana Briski, beautiful guides you through their lives as she teaches them photography and strives to improve their futures. I love the focus on their photography. The children are featured as students and as photographers in their own right. It is so empowering. This is a sad story, but it is also inspiring and sheds light on the potential that anyone has when given opportunities. Unfortunately, not all of these children are able to take the opportunities that are presented to them, but the filmmaker's efforts to help them beautifully cross through the line of objectivity. "Born into Brothels" is an important film because it forces the viewer to see these far away children as people and to realize that when we reach out to one another, we can make a difference, even if it is only temporary.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Marion Lienert

Review of "Born into Brothels"

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

What impressed me the most about this documentary was the passion and dedication with which filmakers created and recorded the events leading to this film. I was especially interested in the way Zana Briski developed her relationship with children from this seedy district in Calcutta and how this changed their lives forever. The film captured the 'humanity' of the children and their mothers and managed to draw you into the film, making you feel you were actually there. The orginality of the idea of empowering these children with cameras in order to capture pieces of their reality is something else I appreciated. This film is not to be missed especially by any one interested in developing countries and how children can become empowered and find a greater sense of self-worth.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lindsay Sproul

This seller did not list that this was an ex-library copy.

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love this movie, and I needed a nice, clean copy for one of the classes I teach. I ordered a "very good" copy, and the seller did not list that it was an ex-library copy. The jacket was covered in library text, and the movie was battered. It should have listed that in the product info-- I wouldn't have purchased that copy.

Helpful

Kylie Hewitt

Love this Movie

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

I feel in love with this movie after watching it. There's a complex story that is told, but I believe the best of it is that when given an opportunity, outcast children can thrive. The kids being documented are both street smart and intelligent, but there are hindered by the obstacles put in their way due to the stigma that surrounds them.

There are many issues that are featured in this movie and not nearly enough solutions. but as the critical reviews state it is uplifting to see children find joy through the lens of a camera.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Luis Carvalhal

photography and life

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2007

Verified Purchase

An amazing twist in a photgraphic project proves to be a teaching to all os us about what photography can be and how photography can change lifes. We all know what photography is but few of us know what it can show through the eyes of humans, and in this case children, that had never taken one. It's incrdible to see the quality that shooting with no preconceved notions of what is composition and formally correct.
This documentary even turns into a social project and has acheived success for what i've known.
Trully inspiring, trully appealing, trully touching, trully real and trully about life and photography

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Julie M.

notice that this is in French!

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

Though I do speak French, when I ordered this, I did not notice that it is the French version so I was very disappointed! I wanted to share this very powerful documentary with friends in English. However, I must say, that when I discovered this error, really on my part,it was easy to return the two copies I had bought and get the refund.

Helpful

John Farr

Born into Brothels

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2007

Verified Purchase

Both sobering and uplifting, Briski and Ross Kauffmann's documentary takes us inside the harsh, closed world of prostitution in Calcutta. Most often the children's parents are foul-mouthed and abusive, and India's caste structure minimizes the chances for these virtual orphans to advance in society. But Briski's attempt is still noble. We're humbled by the innocent spirit emanating from these special kids, most of whom still naively hope for a better life. As we see these dreams fade with the parents reclaiming their futures, we still admire their intent, and mourn their reality.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Carno Polo

a good documentary about how art can help social emancipation

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

An interesting documentary on the condition of children in the red district of Calcutta. Briski spent a lot of time there and obviously identifies with her subject, though unfortunately she is not always successful in achieving her aim of giving children of prostitutes a life out of the condition they are born in. Given the overall situation in Calcutta, these children are not at the bottom, and are generally well fed, but lack opportunities for education and personal achievement.

Briski has been accused of exploiting the children as objects in her documentary, but I think this is unfair: there is nothing wrong in filming your work if this raises awareness and helps with fund raising, which this film certainly did.

At the end of the film, one is left with mixed feelings: on the one hand, a few kids make it and through their photos achieve emancipation from the slums. On the other hand, many don't, either because their parents prevent them or because they can't make the fateful decision to leave home.

One person found this helpful

H S Marks

the story continues on DVD

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2007

Verified Purchase

The follow-up material on this DVD does bring a happy ending.

WARNING: some DVD players cannot access to essential subtitles.

The releasing company locked down trailers at the disc head which

cuts out other features and controls but there is no menu option for

subtitles. Your player will either display them or not.

There is an AUSTRALIAN REGION 4 issue that I presume does not have

that problem.

Bob Leponge

Born into Brothels

Reviewed in France on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Une vraie claque visuelle. Documentaire percutant et en meme temps tres délicat. Veritable prouesse d'humanité pour traiter un sujet pour lequel il est tres facile de tomber dans le voyeurisme.

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

Andrea toledo

stupendo!

Reviewed in Italy on April 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

Film stupendo, meraviglioso per appassionati di fotografia e dell'india! da comprare e gustarsi sul divano di casa con vicino la propria reflex :) un po triste per la storia e la sofferenza raccontata.

Translate review to English

Cliente Amazon

DVD ok, ma non credo sia originale

Reviewed in Italy on November 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

Funziona bene, ma non sembra un DVD originale. Lo ricomprerei, visto il prezzo, ma non credevo ci potesse essere un mercato di DVD non originali su Amazon

Translate review to English

See more reviews