Simply Perfect

Fantastic!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's a reason I read a handful of positive and negative reviews for each film I watch before I post my own. This one draws severe criticism from more than a handful of reviewers who totally castigate the filmmakers and virtually everything about it - the editing, the choice of location, even the motives of the principals. Many of them, and not surprisingly in this age of 'white guilt', attempt to shame the principals for self aggrandizement while citing their vaunted position as members of an elite minority class.By merely watching this documentary, none of those thoughts ever entered my head. Can it be such a bad thing that Zana Briski took a handful of underprivileged kids under her wing and attempted to show them there was an outlet for their creativity, and perhaps a way out of their situation? Most of these children felt resigned to taking up the same life as their parents, while realizing that it was an immeasurably bad one. When 'Zana Auntie' asked the young girl Suchitra "Do you see any solution to all this?", the answer was a resounding "No". One of the boys in the film gave a starker reply later on - "There is nothing called 'hope' in my future".With all that, it was so disheartening to learn at the end of the film that most of the kids featured returned in some measure to their prior life. Manik's father - didn't allow him to go to school. Puja's mother - withdrew her from the Sabena School. Shanti left on her own. Gour went back to live at home and wanted to attend the University. Tapasi ran away from home to attend a girl's school. Suchitra's aunt wouldn't let her leave the brothel. Only Kochi remained at Sabena.All you critics, ask yourself - "Where are these kids now?"

I would have not seen this documentation, if it would not have been in IMDb Oscar Badge list. It would be a shame, because this documentation is worth to see. I'm not that good in English, please forgive me, but i try to write some words to appreciate their work. It is unbelievable how Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman are taking the challenge to work in such a place. Not only that, they are trying to make the world a little bit better for the children. Hopefully this documentation can make the world better for a lot more. It was a good decision from the Academy to give the Oscar to this Project. The more people see it, the more will think about the world around them.

I felt shudders after watching this documentary. I belong to Kolkata (Calcutta), and all Kolkatans know this place exists. We have accepted this devil's den in the center of the city and do nothing about it whatsoever as we feel it is not our job. I never gave it a thought until now that there could be children out there being dragged into this racket. I am moved and stirred. The little children are so naive, so pure , so innocent that it makes my heart wrench. The harsh reality is it takes a lot of courage and endurance to move out of the influence of this sucking hole. Some struggle it out and flourish while others are lost in oblivion.

Feel very disappointed and quite angry about what I saw: we get no information at all but the outsider's ethnocentrism effort to make good stuff with a carefully construction of "Otherness", "poverty" and, of course "India". How about the general context, the structural mechanisms of social exclusion and exploitation??? How about the children's voices? Where are they? I only can heard the mute voice of a children completely admonished to tell about the adult-western wishes.Nothing to say about the "story" what is been writing for them.... (without them). Where are the children's stakeholders in Calcuta? They are "left" only with this women's help and hopes? Reflexivity and postmodernism are not this. Out there we can get arguments, multiplicity of voices, pathways of power and counter-power, history, ethnostories... but, of course, it is required some conceptual tools - say anthropology -, methodological gadgets and a clear philosophy or philosophical points of reference to start with. Instead we only see philanthropy - a lot of - and a cool project, for cool people with cool intentions, liberal and western intentions... And the world does not stop turning... you feel me?