Photo and Films on Children's Rights at The Annexe Gallery

If you want to learn more about children rights, or if you are on holiday with not much planned, do head to Central Market Annexe in Kuala Lumpur for some films.

YOUTH LENS: Photo & films on children’s rights

Date: 14.12.2010 - 19.12.2010
Time: 11.00 AM - 08.00 PM

YOUTH LENS: Photos & Films on Children’s Rights

Photography Exhibition & Film Screenings
Tue 14 to Sun 19 Dec
Photo Exhibition: 11am to 8pm
Film Screenings: 8pm (Mon to Fri), 3pm (Sat & Sun)
Presented by Voice of the Children
Admission free

“Youth Lens” represents a collection of photos taken by the children of Chow Kit. Led by Dina Zaman, Sheng Saw, Zulfirdous Abu Hassan and Adriana Nordin Manan, these children were each given a disposal camera, taught the rudiments of working a camera and just told to have fun. And have fun they did. The exhibition is exciting, funny, sweet, sad and a little naughty. The images carry a certain insouciance with the backdrop of Chow Kit reflected back into the children's lenses.

This exhibition (like “Everyone Has Hope: Photos by Burmese refugee children” held here last month) is inspired by the documentary "Born into Brothels" by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski. Described as a tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, "Born into Brothels" is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers are sex workers. Given a camera each, the children were taught to look at the world with new eyes.

You are invited to the
EXHIBITION OPENING
Tue 14 Dec, 7.30pm
Screening of “Back to the Streets” & “Stolen Futures” by Malaysian filmmaker Mahi, followed by discussion
Refreshments are served

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WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME
Films about street children
Tue 14 to Sun 19 Dec
Admission free

A mini film festival on the theme of children will be held in conjunction with the exhibition. These films of social realism provide a brutally honest look at the lives of kids on the streets of the world. Powerful, raw and often despairing, these films have awakened societies to the harsh realities of the forgotten children on the streets, as well as the inadequacy of the institutions designed to help them. All these are films more people need to see. We also hope the films may inspire local filmmakers, artists and writers as well as the public to document and listen to similar stories in Malaysia and join in the struggle to protect children’s rights.

Tue 14 Dec, 8pm
“BACK TO THE STREETS” & “STOLEN FUTURES”
Dir: Mahi Ramakrishnan | Malaysia | 2009 & 2010
In "Back to the Streets" Mahi follows the story of angry teenagers who find themselves on the street living in a rubbish chute. Honest, frank and at times alarming, it is a mirror to how we have let our children down. "Stolen Futures" looks unsentimentally at issues around baby selling – the reasons why babies are bought and sold.

Wed 15 Dec, 8pm
SALAAM BOMBAY!
Dir: Mira Nair | India | 1988

Abandoned by the circus for which he was working, 10-year-old Krishna made his way to Bombay to earn some money – he wants to save up before returning home to his mother. While selling tea in the red-light district, he befriends a drug addict, falls in love with the new girl at the brothel and earns the wrath of the pimp and pusher. Filmed with actual children from the streets of Bombay, this film-festival favourite reveals the innate dignity, resilience and hopes of all children.

Thu 16 Dec, 8pm
PIXOTE: SURVIVAL OF THE WEAKEST
Dir: Hector Babenco | Brazil | 1981

On the streets of Sao Paulo, a 10-year-old runaway boy named Pixote is arrested during a police round-up homeless people. Pixote endures torture, degradation and corruption at a local youth detention center. When he eventually escapes with three other boys, they survive by the only means available to them: robbing, pushing drugs and pimping. Rejected by the Academy Awards but hailed by critics, the film is described by Roger Ebert as “a rough, unblinking look at lives no human being should be required to lead.” [Audience advisory: Contains mature themes and scenes]

Fri 17 Dec, 8pm
LOS OLVIDADOS (THE YOUNG & THE DAMNED)
Dir: Luis Bunuel | Mexico | 1950

When El Jaibo is released from juvenile detention, he reunites with his old gang to terrorise the slums of Mexico City – taking revenge on those who betrayed him, bullying the weak and robbing the crippled. When young Pedro is framed for Jaibo’s crime, he is given a chance to rehabilitate. Will he break the cycle of poverty and violence? Regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, even winning the exiled filmmaker the Best Director award at Cannes in 1951, Los Olvidados was initially reviled as too damning a portrait of Mexico.

Sat 18 Dec, 3pm
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
Dir: Isao Takahata | Japan | 1988

A brother and a sister have to fend for themselves in Japan during WWII after their mother died and their aunty becomes mean to them. To distract from their constant hunger, they entertain themselves with fireflies in a jar. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name, this Studio Ghibli-produced anime is perhaps one of the most haunting and devastating anti-war films you will ever see. "Takahata's alternately sweeping and intimate animated feature," according to Movie Guide, "is a moving depiction of the fates of cast-off children who become casualties of war."

Sun 19 Dec, 3pm
BORN INTO BROTHELS: CALCUTTA'S RED LIGHTS KIDS
Dir: Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski | India | 2003

Described as a tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, "Born into Brothels" is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers are sex workers. Given a camera each, the children were taught to look at the world with new eyes and empowered to document it for themselves. In this Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature, “these children give us vibrant pictures of hope in the midst of oppression.”

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The Annexe Gallery is supported by Central Market.

For enquiries, please call:
Pang Khee Teik (Arts Programme Director): 012 305 1135
Jerome Kugan (Media Manager): 016 802 7347
Lim Chung Wei (Arts Manager): 012 207 5140

The Annexe Gallery
1st & 2nd Floor, Central Market Annexe
Jalan Hang Kasturi
Kuala Lumpur
Tel +603-2070 1137
www.annexegallery.com