Born Into Brothels Documentary Essay

708 Words3 Pages

The documentary genre has radically evolved throughout the years, however it can still be broadly described as a non-fictional informative footage which “documents” or captures reality. In general documentaries are used to reveal an unknown angle on either historical events, biological or controversial issues to a specific target audience. These unknown angles are mainly influenced by the intentions of the filmmaker. The filmmaker’s enthusiasm and commitment plays an enormous role in how these unknown angles will be portrayed to the audience. The purpose of the filmmaker is to explore topics that are mostly overlooked by society in an attempt to make a difference. This purpose of the filmmaker is clearly visible in the 77th Academic Award winning …show more content…

Briski also targets the problem of poverty and the lack of human rights in the Red Light District of Calcutta and presents it in the documentary “Born into Brothels” without artificial changes. The style of documentary Briski and Kauffman used for this particular film depicts the art of documentary photography. Documentary photography is a technique used by filmmakers for documentaries as it has the ability to influence people and events. This technique portrays stories candidly and purely to the audience rather than exaggeratedly as evidence of the truth is being captured through the lens of a camera. Throughout the documentary, ‘Born Into Brothels’, this technique is evident as Briski and Kauffman uses the raw images taken by the children from the Red Light District which depicts the scenery of the brothels in Calcutta and also the poverty in this area. The structure of the documentary introduces the viewers separately to each of the children, this allows the viewer to to get a better insight on their surroundings, their worries, and their hopes for the future. Briski structured the documentary to portray that as the documentary progresses so does the hopes of the children’s hope of escaping their fate in