Born into Brothels (album)
From AwardAnnals
| Album: | Born into Brothels |
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| Artist: | John McDowell |
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| Label: | Koch Records |
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Reviews
Amazon.com
The Academy Award-winning documentary Born Into Brothels depicts the struggles of the children of Calcutta prostitutes, who are given cameras in order to document their lives and find a way of escape. The score was composed by John McDowell, leader of the group Mamma Tongue, and a man with experience working in spiritual settings, from gospel to Sufi music. This goes a long way toward explaining the soundtrack’s overall inspirational tone. Those intimidated by something that would be too “world music” can also relax knowing that the flavor of this disc is decidedly mild. The vocals, for instance, are shared by Kirtan-chant specialist Krishna Das (born Jeffrey Kagel) and Sabina Sciubba, the Italian-German singer of the New York-based band Brazilian Girls. And when things threaten to become a little too yoga-class, the CD gets an energy boost from two Bollywood tracks, “Pairon Mein” and “Ankham Khuli” (from 2000’s Mohabbatein), the latter of which features Lata Mangeshkar, the Indian film industry’s most famous playback singer. —Elisabeth Vincentelli
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Born Into Brothels is an inspiring look at the transformative journey of a group of extraordinary children in Calcutta’s 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…
