I saw the film at the Bangkok conference and as a sex worker & a mother I was appalled by this film. I found it extremely offensive and distressing to watch. The film is very evocative and very beautifully and carefully shot however the spirit of the film is ugly.

The woman film maker deliberately and methodically sets herself up as the "saviour" of these (children of sex workers) whose mothers are portrayed as uncaring, crass and abusive at worst & pathetic, and stupid at best. In her little social experiment she gives the children cameras, teaches them photography and then promotes her little project ie; the photography of the children to an international audience. Ultimately there is an exhibition held in Europe where some of the photos are shown and some children get the "chance of a lifetime" to travel to Europe. I think though the children are merely a vehicle for her own self aggrandisement and she is so "up herself" (an Australian expression meaning full of her own self importance and needs) that she verbally threatens one child who is recalcitrant about continuing with the grind associated with his newly found international celebrity status. At one point in the film she says to him "its my way or the highway!". I suspect many other film makers would've been too self-conscious to leave the image of themselves bullying a child in the film but she is so convinced that the international fame & fortune she has garnered for this child (a la first world values) is the way of the future for him that she doesn't see herself pushing her own agenda & her own values on to him as an issue. She knows what is good for him! I was truly shocked at her audacity in knowing what was "right" for him and couldn't help thinking how her status (and the film) relied on his success.

The films narrative is essentially about the hopeless futures of these children (without her to "save" them of course!) and along with the photography thread in the story, the film graphically depicts her tenacious efforts to secure an education for them and thus rescue them from a life of abject misery. Their sex working mothers are portrayed as resistant at worst or clueless at best about the need for their children to receive an education but our heroine manages to get past them as well as a few other obstacles and she manages to get most of the children into formal schooling.

I believe this film seriously undermines the work of the sex worker rights movement and particularly disrespectful of the work of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Sonagachi Project) which is one of the finest examples of an empowerment project that I know. We all know that sex workers themselves have hopes and dreams for their children, love them and want the best for them just as any parent does and the raft of educational act ivies pioneered by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Sonagachi Project) are testament to this. They didn't need some interfering, judgmental white woman to show them the way but are in the process of addressing their own issues in their own way. You could never dream the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Sonagachi Project) and all its fantastic work is happening from this film! The parents are portrayed as too uncaring, too primitive and as incapable of addressing the needs of their own children without this film maker and all her influence and worldly knowledge. If this film receives critical acclaim and widespread release in the West I believe it will fuel some of our most pervasive and negative western stereotypes about sex workers (as desperate, unfit mothers, slatternly & stupid) and about 3rd world peoples lives as miserable, hopeless and inhuman.

I can't help thinking that this woman is likely to receive a huge boost to her career and finances from this and what of the sex workers and their children off whose backs she's made her fame and fortune. For whose benefit was this film really made? What's her message in this film? Films are a carefully constructed communication; she didn't just film everything going on around her & then literally put it all together. She selected what she filmed and then what she wanted to be included, removed or edited in the final film. Subsequently there is plenty of images of mothers screaming, hitting & swearing at their children but none of them showing any love & care for them. Maybe displays of care & affection were completely absent in any of these families; possible, but I think not. The viewer is left with an impression of abusive and neglectful parenting (the portrayal of the fathers was even worse!) This is deliberate - not accidental.

If I sound outrageous in my condemnation of this film it is because I am outraged. Yes I'm sure the conditions in which children & their families live in this Red Light district are less than ideal (by western standards) but their struggles could've been presented in a more sensitive manner in my opinion. By highlighting & focusing on their weaknesses (their marginalisation through poverty, their work, social status, lack of education etc.) she enhances herself, her strengths, as the one who sweeps in & makes a difference to their lives. A respectful film & film maker would've allowed the viewer to see & celebrate their strengths not celebrate hers!.

Personally if the film is nominated for an Oscar, I would like to see her film publicly condemned as sex worker negative at least; it would be up to others to decide whether it is disrespectful on other levels like race. (It has since won the Oscar, and sex workers everywhere condemn it, especially DMSC whose ethical approval was not sought - ed)

…Imagine what a truly powerful film about the work of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Sonagachi Project) would be and how that would advance our cause of promoting sex workers rights to the world. It would tell a story of sex workers having the knowledge, skills and strength to improve our circumstances for ourselves…