Born into Brothels Film Screening & Discussion Friday, March 16 7:30 pm West Windsor Arts Center

West Windsor Arts Council
Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (2004) | Friday FILM Series Event
Friday, March 16, 2012 | 7:30 pm | Tickets at door: $7/$6 Members
West Windsor Arts Center, 952 Alexander Road, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
www.westwindsorarts.org | 609.716.1931
Oscar-winning ‘Born into Brothels (2004), a documentary written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, will be the first film screened in 2012 at the West Windsor Arts Center. The event will take place on Friday, March 16, 2012, at 7:30 pm at the West Windsor Arts Center, 952 Alexander Road, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550. The admission charge is $7/$6 Members. Free event parking is available.  For directions, visit www.westwindsorarts.org.  For more information, call 609.716.1931.
Following the screening, Dan Sandford, West Windsor Arts Council member and chair of the Film Committee will interview Avijit Halder, featured in the film as an 11 year old and currently an undergraduate at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Halder will describe his experiences as part of the documentary as well as the changed trajectory of his life due to the efforts of the filmmakers and the sale of photos and a book on the children. 
In 1998, Zana Briski traveled to India to document the living conditions of sex workers in the Sonagachi red light district of Calcutta. What she found was a closed society, suspicious of her intentions and unwilling to be photographed.  After years of frustration, she turned her attention to the children in this community whom she had befriended.  Briski in effect shifted her focus to the young, those who were fated by tradition, custom and caste, to enter into prostitution, drug procurement and pimping as a livelihood.  She gave them each a camera and encouraged them to take pictures of the vibrant street life around them. 
This is the story of 8 pre-adolescent children, who with a simple point and shoot camera, were provided a means by which they could explore and express a budding aesthetic awareness. Briski penetrates the world of Sonagachi by teaching the children to capture scenes from their lives and their surroundings. Not surprisingly, there is much footage of these children as they face familial abuse, societal rejection, and circumstances of chaos and poverty. Yet, there are also many touching and inspiring scenes as the children reveal the freshness of their insights and their bubbly joy when embracing opportunities for discovery and play. It is also the story of one woman’s dedicated efforts to give the children a view of other possibilities—including a trip to Amsterdam by one child to showcase his surprisingly artistic photographic images. Briski’s ultimate goal was to set in motion an effective path towards getting these children an education, long denied to those of their station.  The film won numerous awards in 2004 including the Academy Award for best long documentary.
Despite winning many awards, the film has been criticized for exploiting the children it portrayed and even making their lives more difficult. Halder’s participation will provide an opportunity to weigh these disparate perceptions of the film. Briski also started a non-profit organization, Kids with Cameras, to undertake similar work in other countries.
Although the film is rated R, mature high school students may find the film worthwhile and of interest. Minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Please note, there is profanity and disturbing content, but no nudity or explicit sexual scenes.
The Friday FILM Series features outstanding, delightful and provocative award winning films from all over the work and features discussions with fellow film buffs and aficionados. The Friday FILM Series is underwritten, in part, by PharmaNet/i3, a leading provider of global drug development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug, and medical device companies.
About the West Windsor Arts Council:
The West Windsor Arts Council’s mission is to provide professional quality community arts programming in order to support, educate, inspire, and promote the arts and art appreciation in the greater West Windsor community.  Founded in 2002, the arts council opened the doors of the new West Windsor Arts Center as of September 25, 2010 in the historic Princeton Junction Firehouse at 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, NJ 08550.  For information on the West Windsor Arts Council and West Windsor Arts Center, please visit www.westwindsorarts.org. Office and gallery hours: Wed-Fri, 12:00-6:00 pm and Sat, 10:00 am-4:00 pm. 609. 716.1931. Write [email protected]