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LIFE through a child's eyes
Over the next three weeks The Nantucket Independent will introduce you to these three documentaries, the people behind the camera and the stories in front of the camera. It is these stories that will hook you - just as they captured Jenness. She laughs when she says, "I'm a sucker for a good story. More than anything I just got swept away with how great the stories are."
When Zana Briski approached Ross Kauffman about going to Calcutta, India to shoot a documentary on children living in the city's red light district, he wasn't interested. He was concerned the project would take four to four years of struggling for a film whose focus they had yet to figure out. Briski was not deterred and bought two cameras, headed back to India, shot some footage and sent it back to Kauffman. Kauffman was "blown away," according to an interview with IndieWire, and he was hooked. Over two-and-a-half years and 170 hours of footage later, "Born Into Brothels" was as much a part of his life as were the children he encountered. Ross Kauffman co-directed "Born Into Brothels" with Zana Briski, as well as served as the cinematographer and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005. The documentary focuses on a group of children living in one of Calcutta's red light districts, children of women who work in the brothels. It is a small area, barely a square mile, inhabited by 7,000 women. It's not the red light districts that we are used to in the States, however, but according to Kauffman, "it's a community. That's what's so striking. It's very sensual, and there's a real energy about the place." The film began as a focus on the children and the photography they were introduced to by Briski. Briski, an award winning photographer, gave cameras to the children and set them loose. The film, however, became about so much more. Kauffman recently ruminated on the film's blossoming by stating, "When I'm filming, I try not to go into any subject with too many preconceived notions. I just try to really see what's in front of me. I think most people would have gone into that situation and focused on the negative, the fact that these kids are prisoners of their society and community. I saw the joy in the kids and the beauty in the children, and that's what I reacted to. I loved spending time with them. They had so much fun, even though their circumstances were dire. I try to be very sensitive to what's really going on. And the kids are joyful, I mean, they're kids. We had classes every Saturday, and it would be great. The Saturdays were where we'd really get time to spend with the kids outside of their immediate surroundings." When asked if he ever found the situation depressing, he laughs. "The reality of our lives is when it became depressing. Going back to our hotel room every night, getting our credit athrets card bills, trying to scrape together money. It's always hard to keep momentum going through a documentary because you feel beaten down by variables, whether financial, emotional or physical. It's very hard especially when you're doing it on your own, with no financial backing. A huge factor in the success is getting the right people around you, and Zana and I worked together well. When I was down, she'd pick me up, and when she was down, I'd pick her up." Kauffman was with the children in Calcutta when they received the call about the Oscar nomination. He chuckles as he remembers the scene. "It was hilarious. It was great. [The kids] didn't even know what the Academy Award was. They had an inkling, but they didn't really know. I had my distributor on speaker phone, we all put our ears to the phone in a big circle, and everyone jumped up on the bed. It was very surreal. It was great to be with the kids." And Kauffman has continued to be with the kids. Kauffman's initial reluctance has turned into a passion. "I am still working with the kids, still pushing the film, still raising money for the kids. The work is still going on. I'm not the type of person who wants to run from one thing to the next. I want to feel passionate about something before I jump into it." He has jumped in with both feet. He and Briski used the success of the documentary as a launching pad for the nonprofit "Kids With Cameras". Copies of the children's photos can be purchased on the Web site at www.kidswith cameras.com, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to the children's education. Kauffman is proud to say that the program is "still ongoing. We're raising money for a home and donations are 100 percent deductible." He's constantly in touch with the kids, and most of them are in school now, many in Calcutta. One is in Salt Lake City preparing to go to college next year. Koji, one of the children whose performance in Briski's initial video tugged Kauffman into becoming dedicated to the project, is coming over this year also. Kauffman is still amazed at the magic surrounding "Born Into Brothels." He says, "When you're shooting a documentary, in the style that we shot it, living with your characters, seeing what happens, seeing the story evolve, it takes a lot more time and a lot of sensitivity. It's hard. You're living in that moment of not knowing. A lot of times that's when the most interesting things happen. You have to stick with it with persistence and tenacity and a lot of faith." It's that faith that comes through the documentary, that resonates in the children's eyes, that has made a difference in their lives. I - Next week: "Mad Hot Ballroom," the story of a group of New York kids learning to ballroom dance, and in the process, learning about life. |
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