B. Feature Length Documentaries: “Important Documentaries” - Born Into Brothels

The extent of the feature length documentary, Born Into Brothels, co-directed by a New York based photojournalist Zana Briski and the filmmaker Ross Kaufman takes place in Calcutta, India. Calcutta is the second largest city in India and one of the largest in the world. Within this remorseless city is the Red Light District, known to candidly demonstrate many of society's forbidden practices: women forced to either "walk the line" (prostitution) or clean houses, and many of the men suffer from drug abuse or alcoholism.

The documentary follows Zana Briski's efforts to teach photography and further improve educational opportunities for the several children she was privileged to instruct. At first, she was interested in capturing the lives of the prostitutes, but her interests shortly altered to the children surrounded by the undignified practices of sex trade. She teaches the children to not be ashamed of exercising their talent, to dream big and never lose sight of it, to expand their horizons and futures. To help keep the children off the street, Briski would instruct photography classes, take them on field trips and creates their own art exhibit to display their photographs.

The movies' main characters are the children from the red light district: Kochi, Avijit, Shanti, Manik, Puja Mukerjee, Gour, Suchitra, Tapasi and Mamuni. Briski doesn't just simply document the children's environment. Instead, she does something revolutionary: She empowers them to document it for themselves, allowing the children to speak for themselves through personal interviews, their own photographs taken in class and their joyful spirit. It’s a testament to the abilities of these Calcutta children that the most touching images revealed in Born Into Brothels are those taken by themselves. 

The footage taken was tastefully raw, genuine, heart breaking and life changing. The simplicity of the filmmaking behind this documentary is what allows the audience to connect deeper and be moved more dramatically than other films today. The personal interviews with the children were personal, innocent, true and pure. Briski`s own personal interviews revealed her passion and concern for the issues she face throughout the documentary. The music chosen for this piece was very effective for it set the mood and helped guide the storyline fluently.


The relationship shared between Briski and the children is what makes this documentary powerfully beautiful. This bond of trust between the filmmakers and their subjects exemplifies the kind of personal involvement that many documentary makers are striving for these days.

C. TV Documentaries: Discovery Channel - Extreme Peril: Boxing Day Tsunami: Part 1

The content of the TV documentary, Extreme Perile: Boxing Day Tsunami: Part 1, hosted on the Discovery Channel covers the devastation several Asian countries faced due to the 2004 tsunami. At exactly 7:58am on December 26, 2004, a massive under sea earth quake rattles the earth’s crust 160 miles off the western coast of the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. This specific natural disaster was the third largest earthquake ever recorded, registering at 9.2 on the Richter scale. The waves created by the earthquake travelled remarkable fast, recording up to 500 miles per hour. The country was left shattered, leaving thousands of people dead and homeless.

The introduction of the TV documentary was very effective in drawing attention and creating a sense of urgency and concern. Fast paced archival video of the tsunami travelling towards land and sweeping it clean was collaborated together with dramatic strong music; this created a sense of drama. In addition, homemade videos of victims struggling to survive and voiceovers of the thoughts running through the victims minds at the time of the disaster were used in the introduction. I believe this was a successful way to start off the TV documentary for it set the mood and issues of the story.

To support the documentaries cause, four survival victims of the tsunami were interviewed, expressing their life changing story and their thoughts towards the disaster. Sandi Thompson, Jim Cefaratti, Faye Wachs and Eugene Kim were all presently located in Indonesia when the tsunami hit, admitting their fears, concerns and negative mind state during the destruction. To help support their story, re-enactments were conducted, usage of b-roll such as still pictures and homemade videos of the event were used within the segment.

The interviews of the victims were conducted in a studio of some sort, post-event. Graphic headers were used to introduce each victim, stating their full name and explaining that they are a survivor. Medium shots were used during every interview, giving a professional and personal feel. To help tie the storyline and interviews together, voiceovers of the narrator was used throughout the entire documentary. Lastly, to help illustrate scientific facts of how the undersea earthquake came to be, three dimensional diagrams were used.

I believe this ten minute TV documentary was very effective in informing the viewer of the scientific facts behind the ordeal, revealing behind the scenes footage of the devastation and being able to connect to the devastation through the interviews conducted with the survival victims.

A. Newsmagazine: The Fifth Estate (CBC) - Staying Alive

The extent of the documentary, Staying Alive, directed and produced by Tamar Weinstein on CBC’s The Fifth Estate takes place in the eastside of downtown, Vancouver, BC, during the present day. Recently established several years ago, Insite is the first and only legally supervised injection site in North America. The goal of the methadone clinic is to provide ‘junkies’ a sterile, safe and welcoming environment for addicts to inject and use illegal drugs. This documentary unveils the truth behind the lives of those whom are dependent on the clinic, in hopes to promote awareness and encourage users to stay alive. The problem faced by Insite is the Canadian Federal Government feeling hostile towards the idea, wanting to shut them down permanently.

The intake manager of Insite, Darwin Fisher, explains his concern towards the unstable lives of his clients, along with his passion to help users get clean, through personal interviews. We soon learn that the second floor of the clinic is labelled Onsite, where detox programs are offered to clients who wish to free themselves from their addiction. Therefore, not only is Insite a safe place to use, but it is also a solid stepping stone towards getting clean.

To support the documentaries cause, three clients were interviewed, expressing their story and their opinions towards Insite. David Brodrick has been a user since he was about thirteen years old, but has been a regular client at Insite since it first opened. He confines in Darwin Fisher, hoping to receive housing aid and moral support. Taz Prouting hits rock bottom and decides to undergo the eleven day detox program at Insite, hoping to free herself from her addiction. Shelly Tomic is introduced as one of Insite’s success stories, having been heroin free for three years thanks to the support and aid of the clinic.

The technique that the documentary was shot in is very effective and supports the criteria being discussed throughout the film. To help further express the pain, agony and despair the junkies go through, close-up shots were used excessively to reveal facial expression, emotion and danger during injection. In addition, the documentary had a raw feel and look, giving it a more personal approach, through the hand held camera work conducted. Medium shots were used throughout all personal interviews, panning left to right, from the interviewer to the interviewee.

I believe this documentary was effective in promoting awareness, offering concrete and solid information on the experimental clinic and revealing the truth behind the lives of junkies, that all they truly want is to stay alive.