...[pic] Intro___________________________________________ Born into Brothels; a documentary directed, produced and written by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman which revealed one of the darkest sights of rising INDIA. It is based on eight children of prostitutes in Calcutta’s red light area. This American documentary film was released in 2004 won the academy award in the Best Documentary Feature category. The film was also honored into various prestigious film festivals such as- Bermuda International Film Festival (2004), Cleveland International Film Festival (2004), National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary (2004). The Happenings_____________________________________ Basically the documentary started when Briski, a documentary photographer, went to Calcutta and made friendship with eight little kids (Kochi, Avijit, Shanti Das, Manik, Puja Mukerjee, Gou,r Suchitra and Tapasi Mamuni). Briski taught those kids basic photography and the children quickly adopted the lesson. In the movie the children talked about their fear, dream and sorrows. As an example- Suchitra tells about her fear that she could be forced to join as a prostitute worker, Avijit tells about his dream and his family. Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman tried to bring out the picture of the life of those children who dare to see dreams. Briski also showed her effort to send the children’s to the school and to help them create their new identity. Technical Insights________________________________ ...
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...Born into Brothels is a documentary style film that follows around the children that live in the red light district in Calcutta. All of the children's mothers are prostitutes in the brothel to make sure they will have enough to survive. Some of the mother's care and talk about sending the kids off to university and some think of the children as a burden. This film was engaging because of the way it portrayed the children's lives, it made me feel sympathy and sadness for them, and it allows you to become invested in the children. The film did not portray the lives of these children in a way that made it seem like it was just a bad situation for the time being and they would eventually get out of the red light district. The documentary was...
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...Zana Briski’s Born into Brothels is a documentary that portrays the lives of multiple children of prostitutes in India who face extreme verbal, emotional, and physical abuse on a daily basis. They face it so often it makes you wonder what is to gain for their so-called, “superiors”. There is a very similar situation in the book sold where a young girl named Lakshmi faces similar abuse, but hers also entails the desecration of her pride and emotional stability. The author of the book Patricia McCormick helps shed some insight on how people may profit from their wrongdoing on others. To begin, almost directly after Lakshmi is being traded off into slavery, she gets taken advantage of and is not only being used but also being abused physically...
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...Born into Brothels is a documentary focusing on the lives of a group of children who were born and live in the “red light” district of India, specifically the children of prostitutes. The documentary was well received by critics and won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. With such positive reception, it is important to examine what made this documentary so successful; its success can be broken down into two main components, method of delivery and subject matter. The film is shot almost entirely by a single camera, with no additional cameramen or microphone equipment. Much of the footage from the early part of the film was not intended to be included in the documentary, but was a side note of the Zana Briski’s original intent filming her experience in the red light district of India. However, as she got to know the children she began focusing the filming more on them and their situation. This leads the camera work related to the children in the early part of the file to be very rough, as Briski is often holding the camera while trying to interact with the children. When Briski is not holding the camera it is in a stationary position filming her, so it cannot capture the children’s part of the scene easily, only their voices. This is one of the film’s strengths, as it gives a first person feel to the storytelling, placing the viewer with the children and in the city just as Briski experienced it rather than just observing it in travel log...
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...The Day I Will Never Forget by filmmaker Kim Longinotto and Born in the USA by filmmakers Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider both attempt to address controversial issues in women’s health. The Day I Will Never Forget examines the continued practice of female genital mutilation in Kenya. Born in the USA focuses on birthing practices in the United States. Each filmmaker attempts to present a balanced view on the issues, however, both end up presenting a stronger opinion leaning one way or the other: Longinotto’s film advocates for the eradication of female genital mutilation, and Jarmel and Schneider’s film argue for more use of midwives. Female genital mutilation is a procedure that involves the partial or complete removal of the external female...
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...In Born into Brothels the children went on very different paths. It all depended on who they were living with or who they weren’t living with. Some children went off to school and others stayed at home helping their families and eventually going into the line of prostitution. There were very different scenarios that could have happened to all children, a single child or a group of them. While most went off to school and studies some were not so reluctant. One girl who got accepted into a school and was there for a very short amount of time got pulled out from her family and was forced to join the line to raise money for her family. This is very tragic because they did deserve to go to school and they did deserve to study and take action in the world, not just be a part of a large prostitution city; while the other children were lucky enough to have the chance to go off and get the education they needed and deserved. The children who were lucky enough to do this either went to school in a neighboring town or went to a foreign state. One child was lucky enough to come to the United States of America. He studies here and he is very glad to be doing something good for the existence of his people and himself. All the children who left and found school are very lucky to have done so; without school they would be working in the line of prostitution or helping their families raise barely enough money for food on their plates. Pollack was already insane. He had mental issues...
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...several perspectives of Victorian era New York City. This narrative is about men and women, clerks, prostitutes, legal codes, tabloid journalism, politics and capitalism. This book is considerably more than a shocking murder and trial as it becomes a carefully investigated examination of a growing city. Helen Jewett born Dorcas Doyen, simply a prostitute, one of many dishonored working women in New York City was murdered and set on fire by her attacker. The suspect, Richard P. Robinson was a normal young man about town working in business and frequenting brothels. Although severe attacks were accepted in antebellum cities, prostitutes frequently endured abuse and exploitation. Helen Jewett’s murder was one of the first crimes where a mixture of sex, lies and violence revealed to the public gender inequities and class privilege that had previously been hidden from society. Helen Jewett was born in Augusta Maine. When her parents died a local judge adopted her and tried to educate her. Helen was very beautiful and had an affair with a banker which became a scandal. Helen moved to New York City. She became employed at one of the many brothels operating in New York at that time. Richard Robinson, the suspect in Helen Jewett’s murder went on trial June 2, 1836. A witness provided an alibi for Robinson at the time of the murder. It was assumed by Cohen that the witness had been bribed because he ran a grocery store in Manhattan. Because the prosecution’s...
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...the Wild West, opened her eyes to the ugly true of the battle of equal right’s that women have endured throughout history. Every women in history had a story, from the parlor women, to the Madam’s, and history’s leading women activist. Even though, women still struggle to be equal in today’s society, Roma feels that educating on the women in the past, will bring awareness to the true worth and importance of women in the world. Thompson creatively transports her audience back in time to the early 1900s, starting with the painted ladies and madams, and leads into women who inspired her the most. Brothels could be found in all different areas—mining towns, cow towns, logging camps, large cities, cattle-shipping centers, end-of-track towns, army settlements, and frontier boon towns; these same brothels ranged from makeshift tents to dignified mansions, and even portable brothels that traveled around the country. Considering prostitution had been around in the West before the West became a part of America, it makes sense that prostitutes were some of the first to populate and establish businesses in the West; they...
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...Introduction: Prostitution is one of the most widely neglected but complex vices of a society. It is the oldest profession in the world. The word prostitution began to come into common usage in the late eighteen century. Prostitution is historically and culturally ubiquitous with every culture adopting their own standards and attitudes. In the ancient world most purveyors of sexuality for economic reward were courtesans, concubines (kept mistresses) or slaves. Courtesans and concubines often had a high position in the traditional society. But in modern society this profession is being neglected and various social problems are occurred from it. One of the most serious problems is associated with the prostitution is the fact that the sex trade is surrounded by illegal, abusive and dangerous activities. One view maintains that such situations occur because prostitution is kept illegal and the industry operates on the back market. Besides these prostitutes are also sufferings in society. They have no status. Even their client also hates them. Prostitution: The word “prostitute” or more frequently “whore” is used as an insult towards a person (typically a women or girl) who is perceived as being sexually promiscuous (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prostitute). Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual service to another person in return for payment. People who execute such activities are called Prostitutes. According to Anthony Giddens, Prostitution can...
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...She was born into a poor farming village in Bangladesh. At thirteen she ran away from home to marry a man twice her age, he had convinced her that he loved her and would make her a famous singer. However, he instead sold her to a brothel. During her time in captivity she had three children two daughters and one son. Her two daughters were nearly forced into prostitution as well but, she and other women from the brothel fought to keep them and other children from it. In 2010, she joined a self-empowerment group and was eventually able to leave the human trafficking industry....
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...James Joyce: Ulysses James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, better known as James Joyce, was born on February 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland. Joyce soon grew to have quite a large family. He was the first of ten surviving children to be born to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Murray Joyce. Two of his siblings died of Typhoid. Due to the large number children the Joyces had and his father’s drinking, the Joyce’s gradually sank deeper into poverty throughout Joyce’s young life. As a child, Joyce displayed impressive writing skills and a love for literature and poetry. Dante, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and many other great writers and philosophers were among the literary giants that Joyce would occupy himself with. Joyce also showed linguistic talent...
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...BORN INTO BROTHELS COMPANION CURRICULUM BORN INTO BROTHELS COMPANION CURRICULUM DIRECTED BY ZANA BRISKI AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION PROGRAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THE HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION PROGRAM AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTORS OF THIS CURRICULUM GUIDE. WITHOUT THEIR DEDICATION, HARD WORK AND PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO THE ISSUES THAT EMANATE FROM THE FILM, THIS GUIDE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. WRITERS CLARE GARVIE SHEETAL KHEMCHANDANI HEATHER SHPIRO EDITORS CLARE GARVIE SHEETAL KHEMCHANDANI MELISSA ROBINSON CONTRIBUTORS KIM ALLEN MARY ARCHER ADDIE BOSTON REBECCA CATRON SAMANTHA LEE SONAM DOLKER EMILY LESSER KAREN ROBINSON MELISSA ROBINSON 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION FROM THE FILMMAKER | 4 FROM THE EDITORS | 5 MOVIE DISCUSSION GUIDE | 7 LESSON 1 PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY | 9 APPENDIX 1 – Handouts | 18 THE TRANSORMATIVE POWER OF ART | 23 APPENDIX 2 – Handouts | 32 DISCRIMINATION AND THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION | 49 APPENDIX 3 – Handouts | 54 FILM CLIPS | 61 GLOSSARY OF TERMS | 63 OPTIONAL TEACHER RESOURCE 1 – Red Light Districts around the World | 65 OPTIONAL TEACHER RESOURCE 2 – Q&A about the Calcutta Red Light District | 68 OPTIONAL TEACHER RESOURCE 3 – Fact Sheet on Internally Displaced Peoples and Refugees | 70 OPTIONAL TEACHER RESOURCE 4 – Timeline of Conflict in Bosnia/Herzegovina | 72 LESSON 2 LESSON 3 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES RESOURCE STRENGTHENING FEEDBACK FORM...
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...process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. A successful leader is one who can lead their followers to a predetermined goal. Cheng Shih was a very successful leader, who built up her followership and equity and even overpowered the Chinese Army. She was a ruthless leader who gained power though the fear of her followers. This kind of autocratic leadership was the reason that she was so successful. Her followers were pirates who, at any moment, could defy her authority and overpower her. Their fear of her authority was the reason that they followed her lead. Cheng Shih was born in 1775 in China (Ossian). All that much is known about her before she married Cheng I, a commander of a pirate fleet, was that she was a prostitute on a floating brothel. When she married Cheng I in 1801 the two of them began to build up their coalition of ships and sailors. The two of them adopted a son named Chang Pao. In 1807 her husband passed away, leaving her the sole leader of a pirate coalition of 400 ships and over 70,000 sailors (Harry, 2008). Cheng took the piracy and turned it into a business. She expected to gain from any venture that her followers attempted. She would take the plunder and pay the pirates a percentage. She demanded that the villages pay her taxes to keep their homes safe (Hiskey, 2014). Discipline was expected and harshly dealt with. She set up strict regulations that her followers were expected...
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...Johannes Brahms was a German composer who wrote many piano works, chamber music, choral compositions, and symphonies. He was born on May 7th 1833. People consider him one of the greatest composers of the 19th century and of the romantic period. Brahms was the great master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. Brahms was the second born of 3 and was thought music at a young age. By the time he was a teen he was an accomplished artist and went to many places to get money. He would go to hotels, brothels, and other places to help with his family’s financial struggles. In 1853 Brahms met with a famous German composer Robert Schumann. The two became friends quickly and Robert he saw great potential in Brahms...
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...seemingly was the highlight of the day, and that is what Hollywood would have you believe. Actually Hollywood has its beginnings in the twenties and celebrated the culture. The new fad was a new music form called Jazz; a culture for a new generation, a passion for the young adult, a crossover appeal that rocked the urbanites of America and a passionate people who were not just fascinated by jazz but supported it. Langston Hughes described jazz as, “The music from the trumpet at the Negroes lips is honey mixed with liquid fire.” At first the art form was not accepted by black intellectuals. Most blacks distanced themselves from a music that seems to draw white attention to black culture; criticized and called it folk art. Jazz was born in brothels, performed in speakeasies which were illegal, actually brought together music lovers of all races in some clubs. Jazz went from being played only in New Orleans to becoming a staple of the American airwaves, dance halls, and homes. African Americans seeking to improve their situations began to migrate northward in the 1920s, bringing jazz and blues to northern cities such as New York and Chicago. With readily available record players and radio, a generation of Americans embraced this new music form as an expressive alternative to their parents' outdated tastes. Once found only in New Orleans, jazz discovered a broader audience and...
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