Yes, this film was released a loooong time ago. In fact, it was at last year's SIFF. Yes, this was my third time seeing it. I went because the co-directors, Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, were there and they were interviewed after the film.

I suppose only the probably 5 people around here who've seen it will care about what they had to say, but here goes:

They've raised $100,000 through their Kid With Cameras foundation. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the children's photos go into a fund for their educations. (www.kids-with-cameras.org)

Zana and Ross are establishing similar programs for children in Haiti, Jerusalem (both Israeli and Palestinian children -- unfortunately, this is proving problematic) and Cairo, Egypt.

They are building a school for the arts in Calcutta and hope to have it open in 2007.

Avijit, the most talented of the kids (he was the one who went to Amsterdam), will be coming to the States for high school. Zana said they'd see how that goes and then try to bring some more of the children over here.

Someone in the audience asked if they had approached other non-governmental charitable organizations in India for assistance. Zana said they did, but she found that they were in it to make money or otherwise didn't have the children's best interests in mind. Ross said some of these NGOs have actually made things difficult for them when they make trips back to India, most recently last month.



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