Born Into Brothels won an Academy Award for best documentary feature, but even that recognition doesn’t really do it justice. Photographer Zana Briski began photographing the Red Light district in Calcutta, India in 1997. While living in the brothels, she became interested in the children of the prostitutes, conducting workshops to teach them photography on inexpensive 35mm cameras and beginning an uphill battle to provide an opportunity for many of the girls to escape life “on the line.”

Some of the children turned out to be genuinely talented photographers, having their work exhibited all over the world and attracting attention to their situation. The organization Briski founded, Kids with Cameras has started similar workshops in other parts of the world and is in the process of funding a school specifically for the children of the area.

At the other end of the spectrum, the movie Flight Plan, starring Jodie Foster and Peter Sarsgaard, is startling bad. If at all possible, one should avoid it.

Links: Kids with Cameras, Rent Born into Brothels from Netflix, Blockbuster, or buy it from Amazon.